Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Inverness at the weekend in protest to a “wildlife atrocity”.
Nineteen raptors have been illegally poisoned on the Black Isle over the past three weeks.
At Saturday’s memorial march, conservationists and locals carried 19 “ghost raptors” – life-size white cutouts – representing the 14 red kites and five buzzards which have been found dead near Conon Bridge.
World-renowned Highland-based naturalist Sir John Lister Kaye told the crowd of about 200 people that the mass poisoning was “not a wildlife crime, but a wildlife atrocity”. He called on authorities to stamp it out.
Sir John, the Scottish chairman of the RSPB, said: “This is the most serious incident that has happened in the Highlands in my 46 years as a naturalist. The public are rightly outraged. The demonstration is not accusing anybody; it’s endorsing the fact the people will not accept this.
“It’s a message to the police, to the courts, to the Scottish Government, to Highland Council and to all the authorities that this is unacceptable and has to stop.”
Pete Mayhew, RSPB senior conservation officer for the north of Scotland, and Scottish Wildlife Trust chairman Allan Bantick also spoke at the vigil on the city’s High Street on Saturday afternoon.
They called for wildlife crime reform and told the crowd that they were “confident” the protest would make a difference.
After the rally, Mr Bantick said: “The strength of feeling and the large-scale response speaks volumes and I hope it sends out a message to the perpetrator that this has to stop.”
Mr Mayhew said: “We’re hugely pleased with the turnout and with the level of public support. This is a message to the government, to the police and to the prosecution service that they have to take this sort of incident far more seriously.
“This has been going on for decades and I don’t think the position of the authorities has kept pace with the public, who clearly think it is unacceptable.”
He added that it could take a decade for the red kite population on the Black Isle to return its former level of 70 pairs.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the government and police took the high-priority of eradicating raptor persecution very seriously and pointed out that new measures aimed at deterring offenders and bolstering detection opportunities were introduced last year.