Gamekeepers Slam RSPB Campaign
24 April 2008
The National Gamekeepers' Organisation has reacted angrily to an RSPB campaign that has damaged the reputation of gamekeepers.
News reports accused gamekeepers of ‘wiping out birds of prey' after an RSPB press release targeted the profession. It included emotive language, speaking of "relentless persecution" and "slaughter." The RSPB afterwards claimed their campaign was only targeted at a callous few but journalists widely reported that "gamekeepers and people who shoot are systematically wiping out these iconic species".
An NGO spokesman said, "This was a combination of lazy journalism and cynical fundraising. Just days before the RSPB's press campaign, its members had been sent a fundraising mailshot asking their help in saving birds of prey. In reality, of the UK's 15 species of raptors, most are at or near their highest populations in living memory. Only one - the very abundant kestrel - has shown a decline and this is due to changes in lowland agriculture."
The NGO has sent corrective letters to newspapers and has complained to the BBC. It has also had robust exchanges with senior RSPB officials, saying that if they want gamekeepers to work with them, as they claim they do, issuing damaging press releases linked to fundraising, and without prior discussion with the NGO, is a very odd way to go about it.
In reality, very few gamekeepers have ever been convicted of killing rare birds of prey and the NGO unequivocally condemns them. "Intense pressure may sometimes be a reason but it cannot be an excuse", said a spokesman.