Hi Lawrie

First things first: It is not my blog. I have no relationship at all with the owner of that blog.

As for "Surely all gamekeepers would release any raptor caught in their traps", I will point you to this link. Please click HERE to see the fallacy of that argument.

You cannot see why traps should have to carry ID:
All corvid traps must have a unique ID number/code attached to them which identifies the estate and owner of the cage. This is required by law and the cage operator has to apply for these codes from the police when they register their trap. If they do not and the cage has no ID tag or sign with a unique code number on it then it will be an illegally set cage and therefore should be reported.

Frankly, it's the only way to ensure that keepers comply with the humane destruction of the targeted wildlife species. Even with these laws in place there are still instances, on a depressingly frequent basis, of gamekeepers illegally poisoning raptors with banned pesticides. Click HERE for another example.

Your views are your own on the slaughter of animals for entertainment and I am sure there is nothing I can do or say that will change them.

However, I would respectfully point out that the income generated to the Highland economy from this "sport" is tiny when compared to the overall Highland economy. The Highland economy would probably improve without it with the increase in wild life tourism.

There has already been a very lively thread on this Board on that topic, which you can find by clicking HERE

My reason for directing readers of the message board to that blogpost was to increase awareness amongst the Challenge Community of the legality of the traps we all observe on the TGO Challenge. It is entirely up to the reader to decide what to do with that information, but I would hope that they will report illegal traps to curb the illegal killing of wild life in the Highlands.

Email