§ Mr. Maclennanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of known cases of poisoning of protected birds of prey in Caithness and Sutherland during each of the last five years; and if he will give the comparable figures for (a) all other districts of Highland region,(b) Grampian region, (c) Tayside region, (d) the Borders region and, (e) Dumfries and Galloway region.
§ Mr. AncramAll wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 but some birds of prey are protected by special penalties. In the last five years the number of incidents where specially protected birds were killed as a result of misuse of pesticide or poisoned bait investigated by DAFS were as follows:
Region 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 Highland 2 4 4 1 3 3 Grampian 2 1 — — — — Tayside — — 1 — — — Borders — — — — — — Dumfries & Galloway — 1 1 — — — The information is collected on a regional basis and it is not possible to break the figures down to districts.