A public conservation body is facing growing anger over an “experimental” raven cull in Highland Perthshire.
Nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition against a “mass slaughter” of birds in the Strathbraan area.
Scottish Natural Heritage sparked protests when it granted a licence to a group of gamekeepers and farmers to kill up to 300 birds.
The heritage authority has described the move as a “large-scale collaborative trial” to try to curb an “alarming” decline in other species.
The cull has been slammed by RSPB Scotland, which claimed the area has a track record for illegal persecution of raptors. The bird welfare charity is calling for the licence – awarded to the Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders – to be revoked.
The Scottish Raptor Study Group is leading the campaign against the shootings. A spokesman, writing on the Raptor Persecution UK blog, said: “The manner in which the government’s statutory nature conservation agency has conducted itself has come as a shock and there is grave concern about the mis-application of science, the lack of consultation with key stakeholders, their choice of estate partners and the lack of transparency, trust and honesty.
“Even seasoned SNH watchers are aghast.”
The heritage group’s head of wildlife Robbie Kernahan said: “We understand the concerns over wildlife crimes in Strathbraan, but we are also clear that the granting of this licence is wholly unconnected to the issues concerned.
“This licence is about a pressing and complex conservation issue. It is a large-scale collaborative trial which will help improve our understanding of factors affecting key wader species, populations of which are declining at an alarming rate.”
He added: “We are satisfied this licence will not affect the population of ravens overall.”
Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, said: “We are extremely concerned about the likely scale on impact of this research licence on the local raven population in the Strathbraan area of Perthshire.
“We are also very surprised that SNH have issued such a research licence in the vicinity of Strathbraan, which has an appalling and well documented track record of illegal persecution of raptors, noting also the very recent ‘suspicious’ disappearance of a satellite tagged white-tailed eagle in this very same area.”
He said the charity had been monitoring ravens in the area for decades and, if consulted, would have been able to provide information to SNH.
Mr Orr-Ewing said: “We will be seeking a high level meeting with SNH shortly to discuss.
“We will be pressing for the research licence to be revoked on the back of the white-tailed eagle incident, and instead consideration given by SNH to removing the use of the Open General Licence in this area, as is within their powers.”
