\u201cThis is just like any park in the UK, that\u2019s the magical thing,\u201d said O\u2019Donoghue, the director of Rewilding UK, which plans to bring goshawks to Chester and London in the first stage of a project introducing them to cities. \u201cIt proves this can be done quickly \u2013 without much fuss, but with so much excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donoghue is planning to submit a proposal for the \u201cassisted colonisation\u201d of the northern goshawk to regulator Natural England in the coming weeks; the plan foresees the release of 15 birds in each of the two cities, sourced as chicks from wild European nests and UK breeders.<\/p>\n
He hopes they will come to the rescue of Britain\u2019s beleaguered garden birds by preying on mesopredators such as crows, magpies and jackdaws, whose populations have grown unchecked and threatened birds further down the food chain.<\/p>\n Their presence should have an immediate effect on the \u201cbrazen\u201d mid-sized birds that peck off smaller ones that people love, says O\u2019Donoghue, pointing to a similar effect documented in wolves. \u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s called an ecology of fear. Everybody knows the big guys are in town.\u201d<\/p>\n Rewilding efforts across Europe have faced fierce resistance from farmers and far-right groups in recent years, as big carnivores such as wolves and bears have returned to lands now populated by people. As their populations have grown, they have begun to eat sheep and in some cases attack humans.<\/p>\n The introduction of the goshawk into urban England is unlikely to spark a similar backlash \u2013 the birds already live in other parts of the country, and pet-owners and urban gardeners have little to fear from them \u2013 but the species has caused tensions even in cities it has long called home.<\/p>\n In Berlin, where an estimated 100 breeding pairs represent the highest-known concentration in the world, and other German cities, goshawks have become the focus of pigeon and chicken breeders whose birds are being eaten.<\/p>\n Manuela Merling de Chapa, a scientist at the Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, who has studied goshawk adaptation to urban environments, used GPS transmitters to track 60 goshawks as part of her PhD, and says that although there could be potential benefits from using goshawks to regulate mesopredators in UK cities, chicks taken from rural nests may struggle to adjust to urban life and stressed the need to include all stakeholders early on. \u201cOverall, it\u2019s a risky business.\u201d<\/p>\n Ian Henderson, an ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology, who has studied goshawk behaviour in rural England, said it was unclear if the birds would choose to stay in cities and unlikely that the proposed numbers would be enough to have a significant positive effect on garden bird populations. \u201cWhat will happen to those 15 birds?\u201d he said. \u201cMy guess is they\u2019ll probably disperse into the nearest countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue is nonetheless upbeat about the project\u2019s chances. The conservationist, who has previously been awarded a licence to tag the Scottish wildcat and was a scientific adviser for a project that brought the great bustard back to the UK, argues that approaching reintroductions in a \u201cwelfare-based manner\u201d is the key to success.<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue\u2019s first attempt to reintroduce lynx to the UK was refused by the environment secretary on Natural England\u2019s advice in 2018. A draft application for a trial reintroduction has also met resistance, although the chair of the nature body recently expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of reintroducing lynx during his two-year term.<\/p>\n If the goshawk project goes ahead, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters \u2013 an endeavour expected to account for almost half of the estimated project cost of \u00a3110,000 \u2013 and be given a steady supply of food for as long as is needed after being released. In Berlin, O\u2019Donoghue stressed the psychological benefit of city-dwellers being able to spot a predator as elusive as the goshawk while they go about their lives, rather than placing rewilding projects only in rural areas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll inject such excitement,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople go to the park to feed pigeons. Soon they\u2019ll be going to see goshawks.\u201d<\/p>\n This article by Ajit Niranjan was first published by The Guardian on 3 October 2025. Lead Image: A northern goshawk yearling male peers down from a tree canopy in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Nature Picture Library\/Alamy.<\/i><\/p>\n Help to protect wildlife by donating as little as $5 – it only takes a minute!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nWhat you can do<\/h2>\n