Chamber and committees

Scottish Government submission of 10 November 2021

PE1859/O - Retain falconers’ rights to practice upland falconry in Scotland

The Scottish Government is grateful to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for raising its concerns regarding the need for captive birds of prey to exhibit normal behavioural patterns under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 and how the Committee perceives that this seems to be in conflict with the licensing scheme for the control of mountain hares following their addition to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.

Section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside 1981 Act provides that any person who possesses or controls any bird from a species listed in Schedule 4 must register the bird with the Scottish Ministers, and identify the bird with a ring or mark. The purpose is to make it harder to conduct any illegal trade in the specified birds. The 9 species that are in Schedule 4 are the honey buzzard, golden eagle, white tailed eagle, goshawk, marsh harrier, merlin, Montagu’s harrier, peregrine falcon and osprey.

The general responsibilities of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (“the Act”) apply to all keepers of animals under the control of man on a permanent or temporary basis and that would apply to those keeping captive birds of prey. The Act makes provision for any keeper of a protected animal under their control, whether permanently or temporarily, to be responsible for the welfare of such animals. Section 24 of the Act places a requirement on all people responsible for animals to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that the needs of these animals are met to the extent required by good practice. These needs include:

• The need for a suitable environment
• The need for a suitable diet
• The need for the animals to exhibit normal behavioural patterns
• Any need for the animals to be housed with, or apart from, other animals
• The need for protection from suffering, injury and disease.

The Scottish Government believes that the licensing scheme for the control of mountain hares following their addition to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 via the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, does not impact on the ability of falconers to enable their birds to exhibit normal behaviour patterns. The legislation on the licensing of mountain hares is justified in this regard as captive birds of prey can still be used to take mountain hares for other purposes where carried out under a licence granted by NatureScot, as specified in section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; and therefore provide the birds with an opportunity to exhibit normal behavioural patterns as reasonably expected under the Act. Examples of this would be to prevent serious damage to timber or agriculture or for the conservation of natural habitats. It should also be noted that captive birds of prey can still be used to legally hunt other species, such as grouse and rabbits, therefore enabling them to display normal behaviour patterns catching the species which they have been trained to hunt.

NatureScot has engaged with land management, conservation and welfare bodies, including representatives of the Scottish Hawk Board and other operators, to help develop their approach to the licensing regime for the culling of mountain hares.