3 days ago
Mysterious disappearance of four rare birds sparks concern for their survival
Four breeding male hen harriers have vanished from their nests.
The birds disappeared from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire and RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria during an eight-day period in May.
Hen harriers are a rare, red-listed species, and their decline in the UK has long been linked to illegal killing.
Chris Hind, a volunteer at Geltsdale RSPB Reserve, said: "We were incredibly hopeful that our efforts would pay off, but nothing was guaranteed.
"To see these birds take to the sky after weeks of tough work is fantastic but, as with all hen harriers in the UK, these birds face an uncertain future."
Despite the loss of the males, RSPB staff and volunteers managed to help five chicks fledge from two of the affected nests by providing emergency food to the females, who would otherwise have abandoned the young.
In Bowland, one of the missing males was a satellite-tagged bird known as Dynamo.
His tag suddenly stopped transmitting, with no evidence of malfunction.
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Dynamo is the 115th tagged hen harrier to disappear in the UK since 2010.
Lancashire and Cumbria police launched investigations, but no charges have been brought.
Mark Thomas, RSPB head of investigations UK, said: "Sadly, these four missing hen harriers are just the latest in a long line of identical incidents recorded over decades and demonstrate the catastrophic knock-on effect to the breeding success and recovery of this species.
"Those killing hen harriers do so with little or no fear of recrimination.
"Now is the time for the Westminster government to act on licensing this industry, if it is truly serious about the conservation of this amazing species."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 101.
If you wish to contact anonymously, call the RSPB's confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
