Hen harriers are virtually extinct as breeding birds in England due to illegal persecution on grouse moors. Their welfare crisis represents one of UK conservation's most urgent challenges.
Hen harrier welfare in England is a crisis of deliberate human action. Illegal killing - poisoning, shooting, and nest destruction - is systematic and well-documented. Individual birds fitted with satellite tags disappear at statistically significant rates near grouse moors. The welfare cost is not only death but also failed breeding seasons for survivors who cannot establish territories in suitable habitat. Licensing of grouse shooting to require compliance with raptor protection law is the most direct policy intervention to end this welfare crisis.