An RSPB officer yesterday called for an amnesty on illegal pesticides as the death toll of raptors on the Black Isle continued to rise.
Police confirmed that another red kite had been found dead – taking the bird of prey deaths in the Conon area to 17 since the first carcases were discovered last month.
In total 13 red kites and four buzzards have been found and police have confirmed that some of the birds were poisoned.
RSPB red kite officer at the Tollie Red Kite Centre, Brian Etheridge, is calling for the Scottish Government to hold an amnesty on illegal pesticides. He believes that if farmers and other members of the public were able to hand over the deadly chemicals, it would reduce the likelihood of other killings.
He said: “With some of the substances, which have been withdrawn from use and are now illegal to have in your possession, some farmers may not know what to do about it.”
The RSPB and an anonymous donor have each put up a £5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case and members of the public have contributed £2,600 to the fund which Mr Etheridge said was “incredibly heartening”.
He said: “People have really identified with this, they really enjoy seeing the red kites and the people of the Black Isle and Easter Ross are proud of their red kites.
“People are absolutely disgusted this should happen in the core breeding grounds of this special bird. It’s an absolutely pointless mass killing.” The red kites found dead were part of a re-introduction programme, which has been running in the Black Isle since 1989.
The dead birds were found in a relatively small area south-east of Conon Bridge around Conon Brae, Balavil, Leanaig and Alcaig.
Anyone with information can contact police on 101.
A Scottish Government spokesman said any incident of poisoning raptors is one too many and the Scottish Government and partners planned to look into what measures can be taken to reduce poisons in the countryside.
He added: “There will be a particular focus on safely eliminating any remaining stocks of carbofuran, the possession of which is an offence under the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005.”