17 February 2018
Police have joined forces with
wildlife experts to combat bird of prey killings in the county with the UK's
worst record for attacks.
Operation Owl will see officers
in North Yorkshire sent to "persecution hotspots" to try and catch
offenders.
As part of the campaign, the RSPB
has launched a hotline to allow people to report incidents in confidence.
Its latest figures show 54
attacks were reported in the county between 2012 and 2016 - by far the worst
area in the UK.
A report
by the RSPB claimed many of the incidents were on
"land managed for driven grouse shooting".
It cited an incident in 2016 when
a gamekeeper on a grouse shooting estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
received a police caution after admitting setting three pole traps.
The RSPB said that in 2016, confirmed
incidents in North Yorkshire included four shot buzzards, four shot red kites, two
poisoned red kites, a shot peregrine, a buzzard nest destruction and seven
incidents relating to the illegal use of spring traps.
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