Eagle believed to have been killed and dumped at sea

● Raptor’s GPS location shown to be in the North Sea

A young golden eagle tagged in Scotland last summer is thought to have been killed just south of Edinburgh and its body dumped in the North Sea.

The eagle, named Fred, hatched at a nest site in the Borders in 2017 and was the offspring of the only breeding pair in the region.

Fred was satellite-tagged in June in a project involving TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham and Dr Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK.

It was hoped that the protected raptor would go on to increase the vulnerable breeding population in the Borders, but he disappeared last month in suspicious circumstances in the Pentland Hills.

His tag “suddenly and inexplicably stopped” on 21 January, only to resume transmissions three days later when the raptor’s GPS location was shown to be in the North Sea, ten miles offshore from St Andrews in Fife.

Mr Packham yesterday described the loss as “shocking” and expressed fears for the reintroduction of the species to the south of Scotland.

He said: “What must the good people of Edinburgh think, to learn that golden eagles aren’t even safe on their doorstep? That they’ve been denied the opportunity to see this iconic, magnificent bird in their local hills?

“This doesn’t bode well for the planned reintroduction of golden eagles to south Scotland, due to begin later this year.”

He added: “How many of these magnificent birds have to die before golden eagles are safe in Scotland?”

Data from Fred’s tag showed he had stayed close to the nest for several months after fledging before making his first exploratory flight outwith his parents’ territory in mid-january.

He spent a few days “woodland-hopping” around the northern edge of the Pentlands during which researchers were provided with accurate and frequent GPS locations via the working tag.

On 20 January Fred roosted overnight in a shelter belt overlooking a grouse moor near Balerno. His tag continued to record his position there until just before 10am on 21 January, when the tag ceased transmissions.

On the evening of 24 January, Fred’s tag began transmitting again but the GPS location showed he was in the North Sea, some ten miles offshore from St Andrews in Fife. The tag stopped transmitting two days later.