I was shocked and appalled to learn that, as a county, North Yorkshire has more confirmed incidents of raptor persecution than any other county in England. This has to be addressed and I wholly support North Yorkshire Police’s initiative Operation Owl to prevent the persecution of birds of prey in our countryside.
This initiative is a joint venture with the RSPB, RSPCA, North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park and includes:
- Carrying out random surveillance checks on known raptor persecution hotspots.
- Working with local landowners to ensure they are aware of the legal position.
- Training National Park volunteers to identify signs of raptor persecution.
- Raising public awareness.
- Encouraging the public to act as ‘ears’ and ‘eyes’ and to report suspicious behaviour.
Shooting, trapping or poisoning birds of prey is disgraceful and a serious criminal offence and I would encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious such as the cruel practice of setting spring loaded traps to call 101 and report it immediately.