Gamekeeper filmed brutally killing protected Buzzard
- In March 2024, secret RSPB filming caught gamekeeper Thomas Munday brutally killing a protected Buzzard whilst it was caught in a cage trap on a pheasant shoot near Hovingham, North Yorkshire.
- Today, at Scarborough Magistrates Court, Munday pleaded guilty to killing a Buzzard and was fined £1,215.
- Although cage traps can be legally operated under government licences, they have a history of being repeatedly used in unlawful ways to catch and kill birds of prey on land managed for gamebird shooting. These incidents are generally related to attempts by the operator to remove any potential threat to gamebird stocks, reared for commercial shooting.
- The RSPB is urging the UK Government to introduce a licensing scheme for all gamebird shooting to deter bird of prey persecution and to promote better practices.
On 30 March 2024, a covertly deployed RSPB camera caught a gamekeeper brutally beating a protected Buzzard to death inside a cage trap set in woodland near Hovingham, North Yorkshire. (Footage below. Please note graphic content warning)
The footage shows a Buzzard entering the crow cage trap. Four hours later, a masked and hooded individual arrives at the trap in an all-terrain vehicle. He enters the trap and is seen repeatedly striking the Buzzard with a stick. The injured and incapacitated Buzzard is then removed from the trap – clearly still alive – and beaten several more times with the same stick. The individual then picks up the bird by its wing and throws it into the vehicle before driving away from the site.
The RSPB shared the footage with North Yorkshire Police, who later identified the individual in the footage as Thomas Munday – employed as a gamekeeper.
Of all individuals convicted of bird of prey persecution-related offences between 2009 to 2023, 75% were connected to the gamebird shooting industry and 68% were gamekeepers.
A police-led search of the land, assisted by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), resulted in a number of items being seized including the stick used to kill the Buzzard. Forensic testing by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA) funded by the Partnership against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Forensic Analysis Fund found traces of Buzzard DNA on the stick. Munday was subsequently charged with the illegal killing of the Buzzard, an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
On 12 January 2026, at Scarborough Magistrates Court, Thomas Munday pleaded guilty to killing a Buzzard and was fined £1,215.
Crow cage traps can be legally used under Government General Licence, issued by Natural England, to control corvid species such as Carrion Crows or Magpies, on condition that licence conditions are adhered to. Under these conditions, if a bird of prey or any other non-target species is caught in the trap, on discovery the bird must be released at point of capture without undue delay.
Sadly, this method of targeted killing of birds of prey is a persistent problem in the UK particularly on land managed for gamebird shooting. In a period of ten-years (2015-2024), 30 confirmed incidents of birds of prey being caught and/or dying in unlawful crow cage traps were recorded in the UK. 97% of these incidents were associated with land managed for gamebird shooting. 34 birds of prey were involved in these crimes with Buzzards, Goshawks and Sparrowhawks the most common victims associated with these crimes.
Howard Jones, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer: “The casual and brutal killing of the Buzzard is extremely upsetting to watch and it’s clear that Munday has a complete disregard for the law, and the legislation that protects these birds. Frustratingly, this incident isn’t a one off but is just the latest example of the cruel and disturbing lengths some individuals will go to in order to illegally kill birds of prey.
These crimes and the wider issue of bird of prey persecution is significantly linked to the gamebird shooting industry. Without long overdue regulation of gamebird shooting we expect to see these crimes continue.”
James Robinson, RSPB Chief Operating Officer said: “Although we welcome Defra’s recent announcement of a review of corvid traps, this latest incident underlines a far wider and deeply entrenched issue for our protected birds of prey.
For decades, these species have been illegally killed on land managed for pheasant, partridge and grouse shooting. More than half of all 1,529 confirmed persecution incidents recorded from 2009-2023 were linked to gamebird shooting. These crimes will continue without meaningful legislative change.
Through the introduction of a robust licensing system for all gamebird shooting across the UK, the illegal killing of birds of prey could be effectively deterred. Scotland took this welcome step in 2024 when it introduced licensing for grouse shooting. We need the Government to take action, now.”
Though we welcome the guilty verdict in today’s case, we are disappointed that the sentence imposed is at the lower end of the provisions available to the court. This penalty provides little deterrent to others who may consider committing similar crimes and fails to reflect the casual and callous acts of cruelty involved.
The RSPB thanks the North Yorkshire Police, the NWCU and the Crown Prosecution Service for their vital role in investigating and prosecuting this case.
Members of the public are urged to report any suspected incidents of bird of prey persecution by contacting the police on 101 and by submitting a report to the RSPB.
This can be done via the RSPB’s online reporting form at www.rspb.org.uk/report-crimes or by calling the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101. Reports via the RSPB’s reporting form and Raptor Crime Hotline can be made anonymously.
ENDS
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Why are the RSPB and others so loth to name a convicted gamekeepers employer and the exact location and owner of the land on which the criminal offence took place?
Tim – the gamekeeper is named – he is Thomas Munday. #IdontlikeMunday
It is sometimes difficult to know who owns and has control over an estate is the best I can do…
The estate concerned let out the shooting as a result of this incident it is claimed that tenancy was immediately cancelled. Although there are conflicting reports of the estate still offering and hosting canned hunting for pheasants.
It’s the casual indifference that infuriates me. He not only gives the impression that killing birds of prey is all in a day’s work, but it is clear that that he doesn’t either know or care how to kill the wretched beast humanely.
It’s like he is a member of different species.
Bringing these people to heel can’t come soon enough.
Use of stick in this way was (I know for certain) was the standard way for killing crows and other legal corvids in big crow cages up to early 2010’s. And in my personal opinion I believe it will still be the method of choice for many (perhaps the majority) of keepers to this day. But this doesn’t seem to get attention very often, though I think I can remember an RSPB video of a bloke flailing a stick about in a big cage full of jackdaws, I can’t remember if it was a legal matter. I think the law just says they should be humanely despatched? My whole point (as you’ve probably guessed) being that just because a crow is legally designated as something akin to a rat / trash…this ain’t right either.
I strongly suspect that in most cases this is the routine when a raptor finds its way into a crow cage trap. I know of one admittedly grouse keeper who left crow cages with Jackdaws in it on the edge of Goshawk territories. Those Goshawk territories have since been unoccupied for years. A moor you have been on Mark! Larssen traps or indeed Crow cages set in woodland or woodland edge are there to catch raptors not corvids and the regulations governing these traps ought to have clauses on where they can be set.
I was recently fined £90 for forgetting to pay the toll for crossing the Blackwall Tunnel in London. It’s very easy to forget but I accept that I was at fault and I paid up without demur. I can’t help feeling, though, that Munday’s offence was surely a lot more than 12 times as bad as mine. If the risks of getting caught killing birds of prey are pretty low, the chances of a prosecution collapsing even if you do get caught are fairly high, and the fines relatively low (and likely to be paid by the employer) even if you are found guilty then it doesn’t seem very likely that we will see an end to crimes like this any time soon.
Exactly my thoughts. The ultimate responsibility lies with the landowner (morally if not legally). A good dose of naming and shaming required.
Indeed I an surprised as to why so many persecution cases and incidents are not named and shamed. Even where Hen harriers have been “disappeared” should be named as long as it doesn’t interfere with an investigation should be named in my view, it may be an effective deterrent.