Raven cull is not threatening species, report finds

Robbie Kernahan, SNH’s head of wildlife management, said: “It is our job to encourage healthy populations of native species as well as support rural businesses.

“Ravens can cause serious damage to livestock, particularly lambs.

No risk

"Where this is a serious problem, and there is no other solution, we issue licences for farmers to shoot and scare the birds.

“This research shows that the number of ravens killed under licence will not put the Scottish population at risk. However, we will continue to monitor so we can adjust licence numbers when we need to.”

Andrew Midgley, environment and land use policy manager at NFU Scotland welcomed the report.

“The licencing system provides a very important mechanism through which farmers can seek to prevent wildlife, which is legally protected, from causing serious agricultural damage,” he said.

“Farmers apply to SNH for a licence to deal with a problem and it is for SNH to make decisions about granting licences on the basis of its knowledge of the population and species ecology.

“It is therefore vital that SNH has up-to-date population information.”