SCOTLAND’s leading rural estates yesterday condemned wildlife crime and pledged to banish members who did not do enough to uphold the law.

The Scottish Estates Business Group (SEBG), which represents the likes of the Buccleuch Estates and Atholl Estates, said its members should discipline or sack employees who were involved in harming birds of prey.

The promise came as tests were carried out to determine if a red kite was deliberately poisoned near Dunblane last week. Staff at the Scottish SPCA say early indications suggest the rare bird, a protected species, had been poisoned.

Campaigners say Scotland’s birds of prey are under greater threat than at any other time in the past 20 years. There was a 50 per cent rise in the number of raptors deliberately killed or poisoned in 2006, with 183 incidents compared to 121 in the previous year.

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