Natural England issues licences for taking peregrine falcons for falconry
Natural England has issued 3 licences to allow falconers to take peregrine falcon chicks from the wild for falconry.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
Natural England has issued 3 licences to falconers to allow them to take 6 peregrine falcon chicks from the wild for use in falconry. Each falconer intends to take one male and one female chick to form a breeding programme with the other licensees.
Natural England has carried out a rigorous assessment of these licences and made sure they’ll have no impact on the peregrine falcon population. The peregrine falcon population is doing well in England and has a conservation status of ‘green’.
For added security, the licence holders can only take chicks that would not normally survive in the wild.
The licences are valid for 2 years.
The licensees need to meet strict conditions before, and after, they take any birds. These conditions will:
- protect the welfare of any chicks taken
- maintain the conservation status of the peregrine falcon population
Peregrine falcons are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). It’s illegal to disturb or take them without a licence. Falconry and aviculture are reasons under which Natural England can grant a licence to carry out these activities lawfully.
Natural England has published the following documents related to this decision:
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the 3 licences issued by Natural England
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the Habitats Regulations Assessment of the licence application
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the licence determination record
Natural England has removed all personal information from these documents in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Natural England has written a blog which gives more details on the reasons for issuing these licences.