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Hen harriers '10 times more likely to die or disappear on grouse moors'
“These analyses... confirm what has long been suspected – that illegal persecution is having a major impact on the conservation status of this bird.”
Study sheds light on fate of tagged birds 

Seven in 10 hen harriers that were satellite tagged in England are thought to have been illegally killed, a long-term study has found.

The research, published in Nature Communications, also revealed that hen harriers are 10 times more likely to die or disappear in areas predominantly covered by grouse moor.

Scientists from Natural England studied 58 tagged hen harriers over a 10-year period. Analysis was led by the University of Cape Town and Aberdeen University, with land use data from RSPB.

Natural England director Rob Cooke said the findings make for “sobering reading”.

Stephen Murphy, who led the data collection for the study, added: “These analyses are a significant step in understanding the fate of tagged hen harriers, and confirm what has long been suspected – that illegal persecution is having a major impact on the conservation status of this bird.”

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

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CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.