🔗 Share this article The German capital's City Goshawks: A Blueprint for UK Cities? Producing quick keck-keck-keck calls that resounded across a downtown Berlin park, the goshawks climbed high over the treetops and circled before plunging down to scatter a disorganized group of crows that had begun to harass them. "It's essentially a soaring Batman bringing law and order to the city," remarked a wildlife expert, watching the large light-breasted birds through binoculars. "They are like fighter jets." The goshawk is an top predator – and experts hope it will soon bring awe and joy to UK cities, following its presence in European urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving raptor was hunted to near extinction and only began to recover in countryside areas during the mid-20th century. It is still commonly targeted on shooting estates and hunting grounds. Flourishing in Continental Cities In other parts of Europe, the northern goshawk is doing well – even in bustling cities such as Berlin, the Dutch capital, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a large nest sat in the top of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter preys on pigeons in the roads and even rests on building tops. The birds have adjusted to heavy traffic – although high glass buildings still present a threat – and are much more at ease with the constant flow of pet owners, runners, and kids than their forest-dwelling relatives would be with people. "It is similar to any park in the UK, that's the amazing aspect," said the head of a rewilding project, which aims to introduce goshawks to two UK cities in the first stage of a project reintroducing them to urban environments. "It proves this can be accomplished quickly – with little much fuss, but with great excitement." Urban Reintroduction Proposal The conservationist is planning to submit a application for the "assisted colonisation" of the goshawk to the authorities in the coming weeks; the plan foresees the freeing of 15 birds in each of the selected urban areas, obtained as chicks from wild European nests and UK aviaries. He hopes they will come to the rescue of the UK's struggling songbirds by preying on mid-sized predators such as corvids, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have increased unchecked and threatened birds further down the food chain. Their arrival should have an instant impact on the "brazen" medium-sized birds that prey on smaller ones that the public adore, says the scientist, pointing to a similar effect documented in canine predators. "It's what's called an landscape of fear. Everybody knows the big guys are in the city." Potential Challenges and Risks Conservation projects throughout the continent have encountered fierce resistance from agricultural workers and political factions in the past decade, as large predators such as wolves and bears have returned to lands now inhabited by humans. As their numbers have grown, they have begun to eat livestock and in some cases attack individuals. The introduction of the raptor into urban England is unlikely to trigger a similar resistance – the species currently reside in other parts of the country, and animal guardians and city residents have little to worry about from them – but the species has caused tensions even in urban centers it has long called home. In Berlin, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs represent the largest density in the world, and other European cities, goshawks have turned into the target of bird fanciers whose birds are being eaten. A scientist who has researched raptor adaptation to city environments employed GPS transmitters to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her doctorate, and states that although there could be potential benefits from using these predators to regulate mid-level predators in British cities, chicks removed from rural homes may struggle to adapt to urban life and emphasized the importance to involve all stakeholders early on. "Overall, it's a risky business." Scientific Opinions An ecologist who has studied goshawk behaviour in non-urban Britain said it was unclear if the raptors would choose to stay in cities and unlikely that the proposed quantity would be sufficient to have a noticeable positive impact on garden bird numbers. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll probably scatter into the nearest rural areas." The conservationist is nevertheless upbeat about the project's prospects. The expert, who has in the past been granted a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a technical consultant for a program that reintroduced the large bird back to the UK, contends that approaching releases in a "welfare-based manner" is the key to achievement. Previous Reintroduction Attempts The conservationist's initial effort to bring back wild cats to the UK was rejected by the environment official on the recommendation of the wildlife agency in 2018. A preliminary application for a test reintroduction has also faced opposition, although the chair of the environmental body recently showed interest about the prospect of releasing the feline predator during his 24-month term. If the goshawk project proceeds, the raptors will be equipped with GPS transmitters – an endeavour expected to account for almost 50% of the projected project cost of £110,000 – and be given a steady supply of food for as much as is needed after being released. In the German city, the conservationist highlighted the psychological advantage of city-dwellers being able to spot a predator as elusive as the raptor while they go about their daily routines, rather than locating conservation schemes exclusively in countryside areas. "It'll bring such excitement," he said. "People visit the green space to feed birds. In the future they'll be going to see goshawks."