Sir – “Extinction” is an emotive word and in his piece about the scarcity of hen harriers in England (Country Matters, January 12), Liam Creedon has taken the RSPB’s line that these birds are nearly extinct and all because of gamekeepers.
Not so. There are hundreds of hen harriers in Scotland, where there are also hundreds of gamekeepers too. The birds do well enough there.
Furthermore, no gamekeeper has been convicted in England for killing a hen harrier in recent years.
All UK birds of prey bar one — the kestrel — are now at their highest levels since records began. Gamekeepers are a force for good in the countryside, creating and maintaining habitats of importance to all species, including the birds of prey themselves. Don’t knock them.
Charles Nodder, National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, Darlington
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