POLICE have started special patrols to stop people visiting a Scottish national park from disturbing a rare bird which is endangered in Scotland.
Officers are looking to protect the capercaillie – a large, black, ground-dwelling grouse known for its dramatic mating displays in deep woodland habitats – and say they have seen photographers actively searching through forests for them.
Police warned that the birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and that disturbing their mating grounds – known as leks – is a criminal offence.
A statement from the force on Tuesday warned that capercaillies in the Cairngorms National Park are entering “peak lekking season”.
Constable Daniel Sutherland, a wildlife crime officer for the Highlands and Islands, said: “Capercaillie suffer when they are disturbed, and one thing we can do to help to prevent this is by not searching for them or allowing our dogs to run loose in areas where there are capercaillie and ground nesting birds.
“In recent years we continue to see wildlife photographers searching for capercaillie. Capercaillie are protected under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
“Disturbing them whilst lekking is a criminal offence and myself and fellow wildlife crime officers have started early morning patrols at key sites to prevent and detect disturbance.”
CCTV is also in place to protect lekking sites.
Officers have teamed up with wildlife guides, rangers and land managers to carry out patrols on sensitive pathed areas where lekking takes place. It is part of the #LekItBe campaign led by the Cairngorms Capercaillie project.
A survey in late 2022 had estimated that there may be as few as 542 capercaillies left in Scotland.
In 2023, figures collected by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) suggested the capercaillie may be seeing a slight increase in population.
However, the following year a separate survey found a 9% decrease in males attending leks, the Scottish Farmer reported.
Anyone who sees a capercaillie being disturbed is asked to report the incident to Police Scotland on 101.
