Thank you for emailing Nicola Sturgeon (5)

Yesterday evening we sent out a newsletter asking our supporters to email Nicola Sturgeon about the scale of wildlife crime in Scotland, exemplified by the poisoning of this young White-tailed Eagle that was found on a grouse moor inside the Cairngorms National Park.

The response has been amazing so we thought we’d post a few examples here. This is the fifth tranche of examples.

Have a look at the examples below and please add your own voice. Tell Ms Sturgeon how you felt when you saw the image above. Ask her to act now. You don’t have to send a long email, or a clever email, or a learned email – just speak from the heart. And you don’t have to be Scottish or to live in Scotland.

If you are prepared to send a polite, but firm, email to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, then this is her email address; firstminister@gov.scot

Thank you!

Dear Roseanna Cunningham, I am writing to express my disgust at the poisoning, accidental or deliberate (though I believe the latter most likely) of a juvenile White Tailed Eagle in the Cairngorms National Park.
I am horrified that killings of birds such as this rare and beautiful eagle are still prevalent in Scotland, particularly in a National Park.
I am angry that the Scottish Government, like many others in the UK and elsewhere in the world (though that is no defence) is still not doing enough to protect all wildlife, not just rare birds such as the White Tailed Eagle.
It is time the Scottish Government took this more seriously.
Grouse shooting for sport should be banned. Indeed, shooting for sport should be banned.
The police should be tasked and resourced sufficiently to take action against any and all illegal actions that deliberately harm our wildlife and environment. Laws should be enforced, and enacted where insufficient or non existent, to ensure that wildlife and the environment is fully protected.
Scotland must show it is leading the world and take strong action to end killings such as this.
I hope that you can take such action and demonstrate the Scottish Governments commitment to wildlife and the environment and its willingness to take action to protect and enhance it for future generations.
Best wishes.

Dear Ms Sturgeon, I have admiration for you and how you are coping with this pandemic and really feel that Scotland shows England how it should behave, but the wholesale killing of wild life on grouse moors really lets you and all your countrymen down – just to pander to rich guys who find it a sport to shoot birds. I imagine a lot of them are English too. I realise that jobs and money are involved but so is respect – what an example you could be to the rest of the world – well at least to those politicians in the UK. Please do what you can to make sure wild life, which is one of Scotland’s attractions, is protected better. Yours,

This email is to plead with the First Minister for Scotland and Cabinet Secretary, people in power, to stop this outrageous illegal killing of wild animals.
How, in 2020 do we still allow the illegal persecution of birds of prey. This fabulous protected bird died the most horrible death by poison AND in the Cairngorms National Park on grouse moors….well there is a surprise!!
I thought the Cairngorms National Park was given National Park status for the protection it affords the animals and landscapes that all locals and visitors love, treasure and visit in their thousands, myself and my husband included!
Something needs to be done to stop this heinous crime!!
Why is driven grouse shooting still allowed?
All wildlife shooting should require a license, why not take that step to protect?
Why can’t money be made available to increase police resources? After all the tourist industry in Scotland is worth millions, so use a little of that to support what tourists come to see?
Will we visit the Cairngorms National Park again if nothing is done ? The answer is…NO!
Please, please do something to stop this sad and barbaric crime continuing, you have responsibility!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart

Dear Cabinet Secretary,
I was horrified to hear today of the poisoning of a white-tailed eagle in Strathdon in the Cairngorms National Park, but, sadly, not surprised. I am a keen paraglider pilot and captain of the Southern team in the annual UK North-South Paragliding Cup. Four years ago we held the competition in the beautiful surroundings of the Cairngorms. We had some of the best flying I’ve ever had, taking us across stunning remote scenery, but I was most stunned by the complete absence of birds of prey. I have never experienced anything like it anywhere in the world and I have flown extensively in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. I implore you to clamp down on this barbaric behaviour.
Yours, with best wishes,

Dear First Minister. 
It was brought to my attention tonight the horrific death of a young endangered White-tailed Eagle.  It’s beautiful body was found in the Cairngorms National Park. An area we have previously holidayed to specifically try and view these amazing birds. They have to be a real asset to Scotlands tourist industry and should be protected at all costs. It is therefore such a tragedy that this young bird has died. The way it died is however abhorrent and a criminal act. It was found in grouse moors in Strathdon poisoned, I would imagine by gamekeepers managing this area for the shooting season. A cruel painful slow death. This surely now puts into question this whole industry. The vast majority of the UK public are without question against these so called “sports” which are lead by cruelty for the blood thirsty rich or landed gentry. This activity serves no place in a modern civilised society. It’s no longer 1880 when these pastimes were acceptable and they must now be banned. I look forward to your response to this incident and hope you stand for the rights of Scotlands unique, amazing wildlife and can be strong and protect and prevent this happening time and time again. 
Yours sincerely 

Dear First Minister and Cabinet Secretary Ref: crime, no. CF0160960720 In December, on one of my then frequent visits to the Cairngorms, I was lucky enough to have a long, silent, encounter with a majestic young white-tailed eagle. It was a magical seven minutes or so, as the two of us stared at each other, while the hares kept a low profile, the kestrel gave up and headed north and the eagle hung in the air above me. It wasn’t shy, this sea eagle. It was inquisitive, intelligent, curious. Anyone can enjoy an encounter like that, even the unfit and the unarmed – I wasn’t on a summit, just up the Geal Charn Mhor path in the Monadh Liath. There were small defunct mammal traps around – this is an old grouse moor – but right here, no one’s shooting grouse, so the eagle was safe, as were the ever-more-scarce hare thankfully, and indeed the grouse. In that same month, hundreds of people could, quietly, individually, have enjoyed breathtaking, inspriring, memorable encounters like mine that day. So when a landowner, businessman, gamekeeper or any other single individual takes it upon themselves to poison any of these creatures, they rob you and all the other people in your extraordinary beautiful country. I’ve not been to Scotland since February because of the pandemic. Partly I don’t want to add to the traffic your poor Highlands are being swamped by. Partly, the current crop of wild-crappers are ruining the hills, lochsides and peace for the usual bunch of us – walkers and climbers who respect Scotland, its people, land, water, history and wildlife. But even without the pandemic, the filth and the litter, as long as the country panders to people who know how to shoot with a gun, but apparently not with a camera, and their lackeys who poison and trap, I feel it’s not just the wild-crappers who are killing Scotland. It’s anyone in power who lets this keep going on without at least withdrawing these people’s shooting licences, and ideally encouraging a better use of the land. Yours sincerely