23,000 people say ‘no’ to a buzzard cull in Scotland

A petition urging the Scottish Government not to introduce licences to cull buzzards has been handed in to the Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse at Holyrood today. The petition attracted a remarkable 23,000 signatures in a two-week period and was fully supported by the Scottish Raptor Study Group, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. It was launched by a member of the public following the recent issue of a licence in England allowing the legal destruction of buzzard nests and eggs in close proximity to a pheasant pen. The Scottish Raptor Study Group is firmly opposed to the control of native raptors for the benefit of non-native gamebirds which are reared and released in their millions each year for game-shooting.