Yet more Hen Harrier persecution on grouse moors in 2025

“Although the suspected persecution of six of our satellite tagged Hen Harriers in one year is extremely concerning, these birds are sadly just the latest in a long trend. Since 2010 over one hundred satellite tagged Hen Harriers are suspected to have been illegally killed in the UK, with the majority disappearing on or near land managed for grouse shooting. As satellite tagged Hen Harriers represent a small proportion of the UK’s total Hen Harrier population, the true number of Hen Harriers that are being illegally killed across the uplands of the UK is likely to be significantly greater. What we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“These latest figures paint a desperate picture for Hen Harrier recovery in England. To prevent this pattern of killing, and give this vulnerable species a realistic hope of recovery, we urgently need licensing of all gamebird shooting to be introduced in England.

“Under this proportionate legislation if a crime is suspected to have taken place, based on a civil burden of proof, the shooting estate can have their licence to shoot revoked – creating a meaningful deterrent against this type of wildlife crime. Scotland took this welcome step in 2024 when it introduced licensing for grouse shooting. We need to follow their lead and give Hen Harriers in England the safety they desperately need.”

Ataksak was found poisoned on a grouse moor in North Yorkshire – poisoned with the Nidderdale Cocktail – in January 2025. The area where Ataksak’s body was found is recognised as a bird of prey persecution hotspot. In the last ten years, 25 confirmed bird of prey persecution incidents have been recorded in this area, including Ataksak. These included four Hen Harriers, 13 Red Kites and five Buzzards. A satellite tagged Hen Harrier also disappeared in this area in 2024.

Sita disappeared on 27 February. Her tag sent its final transmission from a moor south of Reeth, in the northeastern area of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Dynamo was a six-year-old RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harrier which suspiciously disappeared whilst provisioning a nest in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire in May 2025. He was one of four breeding male Hen Harriers that disappeared in northern England over a period of eight days – two from RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria, and a further two from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. All of these birds vanished whilst foraging for food away from their nest.

Based on intelligence reports and confirmed incidents it is highly suspected that these male Hen Harriers were killed whilst foraging away from their nest site.The disappearance of the male during the breeding season can often result in the female abandoning the nest or reduce the number of chicks which survive.

Since 2020, at RSPB Geltsdale nature reserve, eight breeding male Hen Harriers have failed to return to the nest whilst foraging away from the reserve. In 2023, the body of a satellite tagged male, named Dagda, that had been breeding on the reserve was recovered, from a neighboring moor. Post-mortem examination determined that Dagda had died after being shot. It also revealed a historic shooting wound confirmed that he had in fact been shot on two separate occasions, the final proving fatal.

Wadrew was one of three chicks that successfully fledged from RSPB Geltdale in the summer of 2025, raised with the assistance of RSPB staff and volunteers. When the male parent suddenly disappeared whilst foraging off the reserve (suspected to have been illegally killed) reserve staff and volunteers provided emergency supplementary food under licence.

On 27 September, just weeks after fledging, Wadrew disappeared whilst on a grouse moor near Birkdale, in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Based on incident data, this area, dominated by grouse moors, is the epicentre for Hen Harrier persecution in the UK. Since 2016, in this area four confirmed persecution incidents involving RSPB and Natural England satellite tagged Hen Harriers have taken place and 13 satellite tagged Hen Harriers have suspiciously disappeared (including Wadrew) – all suspected to have been persecuted (2016-2025).

Morrigan suddenly disappeared on 30 September just three days after Wadrew’s final transmission and 17 km away, in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape, a notorious bird of prey persecution hotspot.

In the same area in 2022, concerns were raised when irregular tag data was sent from a satellite tagged Hen Harrier named Asta. A search of the area lead to the discovery of Asta’s satellite tag, found fitted to a dead Carrion Crow. The harness was intact. As a tag harness cannot be removed intact without inflicting significant harm to the bird it was clear that Asta had been illegally killed. In the last ten years 13 confirmed and suspected bird of prey persecution incidents have been recorded in this area including one confirmed incident (the sat-tagged Hen Harrier Asta) and the suspicious disappearance of 10 satellite tagged Hen Harriers, including Morrigan, between 2016 and 2025.

Just 10 days before Wadrew and Morrigan disappeared, another young RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harrier, Beatrix, also vanished. Beatrix fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in Scotland in the summer and dispersed south into the North Pennines, settling in an area dominated by grouse moor near Allendale. Her sat-tag sent its final transmission from this location on 17 September. This area is another recognised persecution hotspot for Hen Harriers with four satellite tagged Hen Harriers confirmed to have been persecuted and six satellite tagged birds (including Beatrix) suspiciously disappearing in the area (2016-2025).

In January 2025, eight months earlier, a one-year-old Scottish Hen Harrier that had also fledged from the Tarras Valley nature reserve, named Red, disappeared in another part of the North Pennines in County Durham. Another satellite tagged Hen Harrier, named Sia, disappeared in the same area in 2022.

Of the 85 confirmed and suspected satellite tagged Hen Harrier persecution incidents recorded in England in the last ten years (2016-2025), 79 (93%) occurred in the area of Northern England shown in the map below.

In total, these include 35 RSPB satellite-tagged Hen Harriers and 44 Natural England satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. All were either confirmed to have been illegally killed or disappeared in suspicious circumstances.

The number in each square on the map is the total number of confirmed and suspected persecution incidents involving RSPB and Natural England satellite tagged Hen Harriers recorded in that area alone.