Natural England Drops Southern Hen Harrier Reintroduction
Agency concludes the captive-breeding plan as unviable; leading raptor experts say the real priority is tackling ongoing persecution, not moving birds around
What has been decided?
Natural England has concluded its Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction Project and will not proceed with releases in southern England. After three breeding seasons in captivity without chicks - including infertile clutches in 2025 - the agency says it cannot commit the long-term funding and resources required, and will now wind the project down.
As the programme closes, captive birds - deemed unsuitable for wild release - will be transferred to a suitable host organisation for lifelong care. Natural England adds that while it is stepping back, a third party could continue the captive element provided welfare remains paramount.
Why this matters for Hen Harriers
Natural England frames the southern project as one strand of its broader Hen Harrier work, noting English numbers rose from four territorial pairs in 2016 to around 50 pairs in 2023, even as illegal killing and disturbance remain persistent threats. The agency also cites natal philopatry - young birds’ tendency to return to their birthplace - as a barrier to natural spread into the south, which the project aimed to overcome.
“Good news” – Dr Ruth Tingay welcomes the decision
Raptor conservationist Dr Ruth Tingay calls the halt “good news,” arguing she has long opposed the southern ‘reintroduction’ because it distracted from “the real issue – the illegal killing of Hen Harriers on the grouse moors of northern Britain.” She contends the species does not need reintroduction so much as freedom from persecution, and that funds should have supported focused enforcement to bring offenders to justice.
Dr Tingay further argues that some stakeholders saw southern releases as a way to shift attention - and even birds - away from intensively managed northern uplands, while brood meddling created a misleading sense of progress. In her view, tackling the criminality directly, not relocating birds, is the necessary precondition for genuine recovery.
What went wrong with the project?
Natural England’s blog sets out two central constraints. First, post-Brexit import and quarantine requirements made the original plan to translocate fledglings from continental Europe unworkable; the project pivoted to importing adult birds to form a captive breeding nucleus. Second, despite behavioural progress in 2023–2024, this year’s eggs were infertile, delivering no release candidates and eroding the project’s feasibility case.
The agency emphasises that useful knowledge was gained on health, genetics and movement ecology, but accepts that without sustainable funding and repeated years of successful breeding, the model could not deliver its target of 100 juveniles over five years.
What happens to the captive birds?
Welfare is the stated priority in the project’s closing phase. Birds will be transferred to an organisation able to provide long-term care; Natural England does not rule out those birds remaining within a conservation-breeding context under new leadership, provided welfare standards are met.
Where should effort go now?
For Dr Tingay and many raptor workers, the answer is clear: strengthen investigations and prosecutions for wildlife crime associated with driven grouse moors; increase transparency around satellite-tagged birds that “disappear”; and back measures that make upland landscapes safer for harriers. In short, stop the killing and the harriers will recolonise former range without needing complex reintroduction schemes.
Natural England points to continued long-term monitoring in northern England and acknowledges that, despite headline pair-count increases, illegal killing and disturbance still suppress the species’ prospects. Effective enforcement, habitat safeguards in breeding and wintering areas, and genuine accountability on problem estates will determine whether recent gains can be consolidated.
Bottom line
The southern project’s end is an inflection point. If it channels funding, scrutiny and political will toward ending persecution - the single most important limiting factor - it could ultimately prove a positive step for Hen Harriers. As Dr Tingay puts it, releasing birds is no substitute for stopping the crime that prevents them from thriving in the first place.
September 2025
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