Raptor from Borders shot in Yorkshire
The Herald27 Mar 2017
A YOUNG Scottish hen harrier found dead in the north of England last year was shot, according to a post-mortem examination.
The male bird, named Rowan, hatched at Langholm in the Borders, and was fitted with a satellite transmitter.
It was found dead in Ravenstonedale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in October. A post-mortem examination by the Zoological Society of London, including a radiograph of the bird's fractured leg, has now revealed the injuries were "entirely consistent with it having been shot".
Rowan was tagged as part of a joint venture between Natural England and the Hawk and Owl Trust and his data showed he left Scotland and flew to the south coast of Kent, the first from the Langholm project to do so. He returned north in October.
The protected raptor's carcass was located after it was noticed it had stopped moving, and police were informed.
