Strong leads on trail of kite killer

Aug 31 2010 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A POLICE probe into the deliberate poisoning of a rare red kite in a remote Perthshire area is not a dead-end case.

The investigation was triggered after the remains – several months old – were discovered by a rambler beneath a tree in woodlands near Strathtay.

Tayside Police wildlife crime officer Alan Stewart told the PA forensic tests confirmed the raptor had been poisoned, with the likely culprit someone setting illegal baits.

If caught, culprits will be charged under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside act, facing a hefty fine and/or prison sentence.

“The time bar for prosecution in this type of wildlife crime is up to three years from the time of the incident, so we have a long window of opportunity,” he said.

The prevalence of sporting estates and the taxidermy trade in the late 19th Century were mainly responsible for wiping out red kites in Scotland.

However, in 1989 a joint RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage project was launched to reintroduce red kites to Scotland and by 2005 there were 76 breeding pairs with 131 young being fledged.

But according to the Scottish Raptor Study Groups website, unpublished RSPB data indicates at least 37 per cent of the reintroduced Scottish kite population was illegally poisoned between 1989 and 2001.

Meanwhile, the RSPB last month said official figures showed there were 46 proven poisoning incidents targeting birds of prey last year in Scotland, the highest body count in two decades.

An additional seven cases involved illegal poisons discovered on shooting estates.

“It’s really sickening that after efforts to reintroduce red kites that they are getting killed off again,” Mr Stewart said.

He said although this was the first known case of a red kite poisoned in Strathtay, police had recovered the corpses of several other victims from the same area in recent years.

The disturbing body count included 14 buzzards, two tawny owls, two sparrowhawks, two crows, a common gull, a polecat and a domestic cat, with 12 poisoned baits also recovered.

Although the perpetrators were yet to be charged, he said police had several leads.

He also dismissed weekend allegations that the red kite had been poisoned elsewhere then “planted” in Strathtay as “absolute nonsense”.

“Why would someone plant a bird there and not tell us where it is, instead of leaving it lying around on the off chance that someone might find it, which in this case took several months,” he said.

“Perhaps the person making these claims wants to divert attention away from himself?”