With endangered hen harriers being illegally killed, is it time to even up the balance of power on grouse moors?

Analysis: With yet another study suggesting birds of prey are being targeted, Adam Lusher asks if English landowners should be made accountable by law

Watching hen harriers ‘sky dancing’ is a natural wonder (RSPB)

Go up on a grouse moor on a good day and you’ll be awed by the glory of it. You’ll feel that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.

But it isn’t. England’s grouse-hunting lands are instead being described as vast, almost unpoliceable crime scenes.

Hen harriers, amongst England’s rarest, most hauntingly beautiful and – theoretically – legally protected birds of prey are dying or disappearing in suspicious circumstances.

Study after study of satellite-tagged hen harriers has concluded the only plausible reason for the unnaturally high number of “catastrophic stops” – where bird and tag vanish without trace – is that the raptors are being killed because they predate on grouse.

On Tuesday, another study concluded that hen harriers were 10 times more likely to die or disappear in areas predominantly covered by grouse moors than elsewhere.

It is becoming pretty obvious that in some – and it is some, not all – cases, there are people who put the need for a good day’s grouse shooting ahead of the law.

As a birdwatcher and the great-grandson of a gamekeeper, I know what the deal was in the days before wildlife protection acts: keep the squire happy, keep your job and your tied cottage. Fail to provide enough birds for him and his pals to shoot, good luck in finding a new home and feeding your family.

In some places, things don’t seem to have changed enough.

One senior RSPB investigations officer tells me – after yet another hen harrier killing – that some gamekeepers act on their own initiative to keep the boss happy. In other areas, estate workers are ordered to kill harriers.

“It’s almost a feudal relationship,” he says. “If you are a gamekeeper, your part of the deal is to kill raptors, and theirs [the landlord’s] is to pay for defence solicitors and you’re fine if you get caught.”

“I am sure,” he adds, “that the good gamekeepers and estates are tearing their hair out at what happens in the bad places.”

I agree. I’ve noticed how good gamekeepers enjoy watching the wildlife on the moor as much as I do.

So, perhaps it is time to even up the balance of power a little, to ensure every moor owner considers the force of the law as well as the success of the day’s shooting?

We could bring in Scottish-style “vicarious liability” legislation that would make English landowners know they could be held legally accountable for estate workers’ actions.

That would be good for hen harriers; good for those who dream of seeing them sky dancing over English uplands; and good too for the honest people who rely on the moor to earn their living.