In Leonard Cohen’s famous song, a bird on a wire is a symbol of freedom, but for thousands of birds it is the equivalent of being sent to the electric chair. Now, in a landmark case, a Spanish electricity company is being prosecuted over the deaths of hundreds of birds electrocuted on pylons and overhead […]
Tag: birds of prey
Victorian woman charged with animal cruelty after almost 130 wedge-tailed eagles found dead
A Victorian woman is facing almost 300 animal cruelty charges after wildlife officers allegedly found the carcasses of 140 protected native birds, including 128 wedge-tailed eagles, at her property. The office of the conservation regulator said police, wildlife officers, and officials from the agriculture department searched the woman’s property in Violet Town in August after […]
Appeal over hen harrier death and disappearances
RSPB Scotland has said it is “devastated” by the death of a hen harrier found shot and the disappearance of two more birds. The dead bird was discovered by a member of the public near Wanlockhead, in the south of Scotland, in June. Two other hen harriers last recorded in northern Scotland have also disappeared […]
Australian raptors start fires to flush out prey
Australian Aboriginal lore is replete with references to birds carrying fire, and some traditional ceremonies even depict the behaviour. Now ornithologists have collected accounts from witnesses across the savannas of Australia’s far north, known as the Top End, suggesting three Australian birds of prey species use smouldering branches to spread fires and scare prey into […]
Gruesome gamekeeper kept ‘kill list’ and dumped ‘1000 animals into stink pit’
A gamekeeper suspected of running up one of the biggest kill lists of endangered animals in Scottish history has escaped a jail sentence. Alan Wilson, 61, was convicted of illegally killing dozens of animals on Longformacus Estate near Duns in the Scottish Borders. But investigators believe animals including goshawks, badgers, buzzards and an otter represented […]
New chicks raise hope for hen harrier survival … but shooters take aim
A row has broken out between conservation groups over the wellbeing of one of Britain’s most critically endangered birds of prey: the hen harrier. The dispute reveals a basic divide between experts on how to save the birds from eradication in Britain. Natural England announces on Sunday that 2019 has been a record year for […]
Charity calls for total ban on tethering birds of prey
Zoos around the country are routinely only allowing birds of prey to fly for a few minutes a day and keeping them in cages smaller than their wingspans, an investigation has found. A report by the anti-captivity charity Freedom for Animals, seen by the Guardian, details wild birds such as owls and falcons being tied […]
Petition: Demand Harsher Penalties for Wildlife Abusers
A man in Tubbut, Australia is guilty of killing over 406 eagles over the course of two years. He would do this by injecting poison into the necks of sheep and leaving their bodies on the property where he worked. This, of course, led to eagles and other birds feeding on their carcasses and dying. […]