Fears over fate of missing satellite-tagged sea eagles
● Conservationists call for information after two rare birds vanish on same day
Two rare birds of prey that vanished on the same day this summer in the north-east of Scotland are feared dead.
The young white-tailed eagles, which were fitted with satellite tags, were part of the first generation of chicks from a newly reintroduced population in eastern Scotland.
However, the tags ceased transmitting on 22 July, with their last recorded positions over sport shooting estates. One of the protected birds vanished in Inverness-shire, while the other was last tracked in Aberdeenshire.
Conservationists are appealing for information in a bid to find them but have expressed concern over their fate.
Ian Thomson, head of investigations for RSPB Scotland, said: “Yet again rare, protected birds of prey have disappeared in highly suspicious circumstances, with their last known locations on grouse moors.
“And yet again we can be almost certain that these birds have been killed, with those responsible destroying all the evidence. The disappearance of these two eagles is more than a loss of two birds; it means any future breeding success they might have had, helping to boost the numbers of these rare birds, has also been destroyed.
“Illegal persecution is seriously undermining the reestablishment of a whitetailed eagle population in this part of Scotland.”
The National Wildlife Crime Unit and Police Scotland have been notified and provided with the tag data.
But a spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said there needs to be “a degree of caution” when dealing with tag incidents.
He said: “Satellite tags can and do fail. They only give an indication of birds’ movements because there can be considerable time lapses in data being received.
“A bird can therefore travel a fair distance from the point the last known locational fix was sent, which makes searching often futile. We have seen cases where birds that have been given up for dead have later been located.”
The white-tailed eagle, also known as a sea eagle, is the country’s largest bird of prey.
The species became extinct in the UK during the early 20th century, due to illegal killing.
The present population, mostly found on the west coast of Scotland, is descended from reintroduced birds.