Yet another buzzard has been found shot dead in the North York Moors National Park according to a tweet by the brilliant Jean Thorpe, wildlife rehabber extraordinaire, on 5 June 2019:

“Shotgun shot buzzard Bransdale Moor, North Yorkshire. National Trust land. Any info please to PC Jez Walmsley, Wildlife crime officer Malton. Yet ANOTHER”.

The x-ray is a bit hard to comprehend, although the spine is clear as is at least one shotgun pellet.

We haven’t been able to find out any further information about this crime.

It’s not the first time raptors have been found illegally killed here. In 2010 a shot goshawk was found at Bransdale (see here) and a post mortem reportedly revealed it had also been poisoned (see here).

In 2012 a walker crossing the moorland in Bransdale found a dead sparrowhawk, also reported to have been shot (see here).

The National Trust owns the land in the valley in Bransdale, ‘surrounded by dramatic open moorland’ which has been described elsewhere as ‘the premier grouse shooting estate in the North York Moors area‘ and ‘one of the country’s most prolific grouse moors‘. Obviously it’s not known whether the buzzard was shot on National Trust property, or on the surrounding grouse moors, or even further further afield and then collapsed at Bransdale.

What is known is that this is yet another raptor persecution crime in North Yorkshire, inside the North York Moors National Park.

Why hasn’t this crime been publicised?