HOW MANY RAPTORS WERE ILLEGALLY KILLED IN 2021?
The RSPB has documented 108 confirmed incidents, expected to rise as data comes in, and most involve the shooting, trapping and poisoning of protected birds of prey. The number is superseded only by 2020’s unprecedented surge of 146 incidents, which was partly attributed to surveillance becoming harder during Covid-19 lockdowns. The pre-pandemic figures were 64 in 2015, 87 in 2018, and 85 in 2019. England alone saw 80 incidents in 2021: the second-highest figure on record.
50 buzzards
16 red kites
7 peregrines
3 goshawks
WHICH SPECIES HAVE BEEN TARGETED?
Deaths include 50
