Scandal of 'relentless' killing of birds of prey

Gamekeepers blamed for attacks on rare species

- Steph Spyro

WILDLIFE campaigners have demanded an end to the "relentless" illegal killing of birds of prey with warnings that fresh figures are the "tip of the iceberg".

The RSPB said there were 1,529 confirmed persecution cases involving 1,344 individual birds between 2009 and 2023.

Among them were rare and threatened species such as golden eagles, hen harriers, peregrine falcons, white-tailed eagles and goshawks.

Mark Thomas, the RSPB's head of investigations, said: "Our latest report harrowingly details what the team sees on a day-to-day basis the scale of raptor persecution, where it is happening and who is responsible.