Hen harrier vanishes in a cloud of suspicion
A RARE bird of prey has vanished on Royal Deeside in “highly suspicious circumstances”, say conservationists.
Trackers lost the satellite-tagged hen harrier, named Calluna, on a grouse moor near Ballater nearly three weeks ago.
Today, RSPB Scotland have issued an appeal for information as fears grow for one of the most persecuted breed of raptors in the UK.
The female chick was fitted with a satellite tag as part of the charity’s EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project.
She was tagged at a nest on the National Trust’s Mar Lodge estate, near Braemar.
Her transmitter’s data was being monitored by RSPB Scotland and showed that the bird fledged from the nest in July.
She left the area early last month with the data showing her heading east over the Deeside moors.
But while the tag data appeared to be working perfectly, transmissions ended abruptly on August 12. Calluna’s last-recorded position was on a grouse moor a few miles north of Ballater.
Hen harriers are one of the UK’s rarest raptors and even in Scotland, the species’ stronghold, they are struggling to survive.
Breeding pairs in Scotland number 460, a fall of 27 per cent since 2004, with illegal killing in areas managed for grouse shooting being blamed.
Ian Thomson, head of investigations at RSPB Scotland, said: “This bird joins the lengthening list of satellite-tagged birds of prey that have disappeared, in highly suspicious circumstances.
“We ask that if anyone has any information about the disappearance of this bird, we urge them to contact Police Scotland as quickly as possible.”
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: “We would urge anyone who saw the bird or knows anything about it to contact Police Scotland. This is the first we have heard of this.”