The Peak District National Park is the southernmost area managed for driven Red Grouse Lagopus tagopus shooting in England. Grouse-moor management includes intensive moorland burning and predator control by gamekeepers. As in many areas with driven grouse shooting, there is evidence that raptors are persecuted by gamekeepers. Grouse-moor management is more intense in the northern part of the National Park, known as the Dark Peak, than elsewhere. We compared the number of confirmed raptor persecution events and the area of moorland burning (as a proxy for driven grouse shooting) in 10-km squares throughout the National Park. We also compared changes in the populations of two raptor species, Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis and Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, between 1995 and 2015. The results show a strong association between confirmed raptor persecution incidents and the area of moorland burning. Populations of Goshawks and Peregrines have declined significantly in the Dark Peak over that period, whereas they have shown 5- and 20-fold increases respectively elsewhere in the National Park. Occupancy and breeding success rates are also significantly lower in the Dark Peak. Our results demonstrate strong associations between intensive grouse-moor management, persecution of raptors and negative population impacts on both Goshawk and Peregrine in the Dark Peak; and provide further support for proposals that driven grouse-moor management should be regulated.
展开▼
