DOZENS of police officers investigating the illegal poisoning of birds of prey swooped on a Highland estate yesterday in the largest operation of its kind carried out in the north.
In dramatic dawn raids on properties connected with the massive estate in the Badenoch and Strathspey area, police officers from the Highlands, Grampian and Tayside hunted for evidence of poison and banned traps.
And while four people were questioned at police stations across the region, more than 50 officers – including staff from RSPB Scotland and the Scottish SPCA – combed the huge upland estate that runs to several thousand acres.
Last night Northern Constabulary’s wildlife crime co-ordinator, Chief Inspector Paul Eddington, warned that prohibited pesticides laid down by disreputable gamekeepers posed a risk to birds of prey, land animals, pets and people.
He said: “If these items are left in the open in the high street there would be an outcry. There’s just as much a risk in open areas, given the size of the leisure industry. Public safety is the crucial one I’m focusing on today.”
The searches, which follow an investigation lasting several years, came after a series of high-profile discoveries of poisoned birds of prey across Scotland, including red kites, buzzards and eagles.
It is understood that the estate targeted yesterday has been the location of similar finds in recent years.
Police officers from the north, Grampian and Tayside forces were joined by civilian scenes-of-crime officers, representatives of the wildlife charities, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the Scottish Government’s rural payment inspections directorate in the operation.
Police dogs, including one specially trained to detect pesticides, searched properties after they were raided at around 6.30am yesterday.
They were hunting for evidence of poison such as carbofuran – once used to treat soil in root crop and cereal farming but now the most popular pesticide used for the illegal poisoning of birds of prey to try to maintain grouse levels for money-spinning shooting parties.
Since 2001, possession of the toxic chemical has been banned under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. But it is known to be a favourite of disreputable gamekeepers, who scatter its blue or black granules on a carcase such as a rabbit. If it is eaten, by another creature it can lead to spasms and death.
Officers also hunted for illegally set traps which can be laid to catch protected animals such as badgers.
Last night, Chief Insp Eddington warned: “People who are responsible for land management, people who have responsibilities for the local environment shouldn’t be doing this.
“It’s lazy land management as far as I am concerned. A rabbit laced with poison to target birds of prey is lazy land management.”
And he added: “I have now worked in this force area for 18 years and I have worked with a lot of highly responsible gamekeepers and land managers who I have got a lot of respect for.
“My own opinion is these activities are carried out by a relatively small number of people but they are making a significant impact on tarnishing the good reputation of the gamekeeping profession. They are not doing their colleagues any favours whatsoever.”
Yesterday’s operation was organised by Constable Eric Sharkey, wildlife crime co-ordinator for Badenoch, Strathspey and Nairn.
He revealed the search had produced some “positives”, adding: “This sends a clear message to the rest of the gamekeeping world. Northern Constabulary is not going to tolerate this. We will enforce the law.”
Earlier this year, tests on a red kite found dead near Laurieston in Dumfries and Galloway revealed it had been poisoned by carbofuran.
And in January a Berwickshire farmer had his European subsidy cut by nearly £8,000 after his gamekeeper was convicted of trying to kill birds of prey.
The number of birds of prey poisoned illegally in Scotland reached a 12-year high in 2006, when 39 were killed, according to the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency in Edinburgh.