The RSPB has today issued a press release that says the hen harrier is the bird most likely to become extinct in England because of human pressure.
A 2011 joint survey of the English uplands by the RSPB and Natural England found that only four nesting pairs of hen harrier successfully raised young; all on a single estate in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire.
This is believed to be the lowest population in England since they recolonised in the 1960s following extinction in the late Nineteenth Century. Historically, the hen harrier was widespread in England.
A government-backed report – the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework – proved that illegal persecution on driven-grouse moors is the main factor restricting the growth of the hen harrier population in the UK. The framework reported that England’s uplands could support at least 320 pairs of this bird of prey. (See here, here and here for our earlier posts about the Hen Harrier research).
To read the rest of the press release, click here
Mark Avery also has a commentary about this on his blog, here
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