North Pennines AONB Partnership supports Operation Owl

The North Pennines AONB Partnership is supporting a national police campaign holding a virtual day of action against wildlife crime. Raptor persecution continues to be a serious problem in our uplands, and we work closely with police forces covering the North Pennines AONB to raise awareness of this type of crime, and to seek information from the public when needed. The message of today’s campaign is recognise, record and report, and we ask anyone seeing evidence of wildlife crime in relation to birds of prey to follow this. The Operation Owl website has useful resources on how to recognise wildlife crime, and also guidance on how to record and report it correctly. Visit www.operationowl.com 

Press release from Durham Constabulary:

Durham Constabulary supports online day of action to raise awareness of raptor persecution

Recognise, Record and Report – that is the message to the public as our force joins a day of action to raise awareness of bird of prey persecution.

Durham Constabulary is joining together with other police forces across the country today, (15 May) in a virtual ‘Operation Owl’ day of action to highlight bird of prey persecution.

Launched in February 2018, Operation Owl is a joint initiative by North Yorkshire Police, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA), together with the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks and the Nidderdale AONB.

The initiative set out to raise awareness of raptor persecution, encouraging the public to be vigilant for signs of this criminal activity, and to report suspicious activity to the police.

In June last year, Operation Owl was rolled out nationally and the first awareness weekend was held in September 2019 with 26 police forces taking part across the whole of the UK. A second national weekend of action was planned for April 2020 with 36 police forces asking to be involved. But unfortunately, that had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Durham Constabulary has backed the operation and officers took part in a day of training at the Bowlees Visitor Centre, in Upper Teesdale, last September.

The training was organised by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding National Beauty Partnership, and involved Raby Estates, RSPB and the Northern England Raptor Forum; the training continues to be utilised by our officers, especially in the more rural communities they serve.

Superintendent Nick Lyall, Chair of the England and Wales Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) said: “We’ve heard from various police forces across the country that they have seen no let-up in incidents of raptor persecution being reported and some areas have seen a significant rise in the past few weeks which is very worrying.

“Whilst it is not possible to hold a weekend of action at this time, we wanted to use social media and online channels to raise awareness of bird of prey persecution and to take a stand against this unacceptable crime.

“The three vital pieces of information we want to make everyone aware of are ‘Recognise, Record and Report’ – how to recognise bird of prey persecution, how to record it and how to report it. If you notice anything suspicious, like a dead or injured bird of prey, or a suspicious trap, call the police on 101. Take pictures on your phone, and remember please do not interfere with what could be a crime scene or a lawfully placed trap.

“Please share our messages with your networks online and please be vigilant for signs of raptor persecution when you are out and about taking your daily exercise. Everyone has a part to play in helping put an end to this relentless persecution.”

More information at: www.operationowl.com