 One peregrine died after it was shot twice |
A record number of attacks on birds of preys in the Peak District have seen two species wiped out, a report says. Goshawks and peregrine falcons are now extinct as a breeding species in the Dark Peak area, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said.
There were 17 recorded attacks in the past year including a female peregrine found dead after being shot twice.
Dr Mark Avery, from the RSPB, called for greater punishments for those who deliberately harm birds.
'Illegal persecution'
"Failure to condemn and tackle illegal persecution is costing the lives of some of our most popular birds," said Dr Avery.
He said the government, interest groups and landowners should "take a stand against a totally unacceptable blight on one of the UK's most important places for people and wildlife".
The Dark Peak is the higher area of the Peak District mostly in north Derbyshire. Large areas are uninhabited with isolated farms and sheep grazing the main land use.
Peregrine numbers across the UK have been rising from a low in the 1960s and the RSPB estimates there are 1,285 breeding pairs in the country. There are only 400-450 Goshawks pairs breeding in the UK.
Dr Avery said: "It is shocking to have to report that birds such as goshawks and peregrines are now extinct as breeding species in the north-east Peak moors - an appalling state of affairs that cannot be allowed to continue."
The figures were contained in a report entitled Peak Malpractice Update 2007, a report into the plight of birds of prey in the Dark Peak.
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