LUSH to hand over 20,000 signatures to Queen as Montagu's Harrier goes missing in Norfolk
LUSH customers from around the country recently signed 20,000 postcards to the Queen asking for her help to stop the illegal shooting of the beautiful Hen Harrier on driven grouse moors, a species teetering on the edge with only 3 breeding pairs left in England when there should be over 350. Now, with the recent shocking news of a satellite tagged Montagu’s Harrier suddenly going missing in Norfolk, it seems it doesn’t matter if it’s Hen Harrier on its breeding grounds, a migrating Montagu’s Harrier or a hunting Peregrine, no bird of prey is safe from the guns.
In a strange twist of fate, the satellite tag on the missing Montagu’s Harrier was actually paid for by LUSH founder Mark Constantine and the bird was even named after his wife Mo. The husband and wife team have also offered a £5000 reward for any information on the missing bird leading to a conviction.
The killing or disturbing of any bird of prey in England is totally illegal. With 20,000 voices from the high street saying enough is enough, will their calls finally be heard above the gunfire?
Paul Morton from LUSH said “I can’t believe that just as we were gathering the last of the postcards from our recent campaign to send to Her Majesty, we get the news that another rare bird of prey, a Montagu’s Harrier, has gone missing near Great Bircham in Norfolk…it never ends! Luckily the bird was satellite tagged as part of a larger research project so the RSPB know exactly where the bird was right up until the last few seconds. Birds of prey are some of the most beautiful of any bird in world, I can’t understand what thrill people get from shooting them”.
LUSH’s Ethics Director, Hilary Jones added “It seems it is not a moment too soon that our customers are asking the Queen to intervene in this madness. It is time to preserve our wild heritage with the same respect we treat our other institutions. Our once abundant birds of prey are being Harry’d to extinction and we need to act now before it becomes too late”.
LUSH will be handing the 20,000 signatures over to Buckingham Palace in the coming weeks in the hope the Royal Family take note of these atrocities and help put a stop to this slaughter once and for all.
For information on the Hen Harrier plight, visit www.raptorsalive.co.uk
LUSH
18 September 2014
