Crime fears over disappearance of young Tayside golden eagle

The sudden disappearance of a young Tayside-hatched golden eagle has sparked concerns of criminal activity.

The bird which hatched in 2022 was fitted with a satellite tag while in its nest.

The tag had been transmitting as expected until May this year when it suddenly went offline. Its last known location was an area of moorland in the Angus Glens – an area with a long history of illegal bird of prey persecution.

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RSPB Scotland said this week that golden eagles – Scotland’s national bird – are still heavily, and criminally, persecuted.

The data from the eagle’s tag was swiftly provided to the police for independent scrutiny.

Police Scotland, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and RSPB Scotland then conducted a search of the area but found no trace of the bird or its tag.

It is a crime to kill a bird of prey, and anyone caught doing so faces a fine or even jail.

Furthermore, legislation introduced in March 2024 means that, if illegal activity takes place on a grouse moor, that grouse moor could lose its license to operate.

RSPB Scotland senior investigations officer, Will Hayward, said: “The sudden cessation of transmissions from this tag strongly suggests human interference, and reflects a pattern of tagged birds ‘disappearing’ almost exclusively on or near grouse moors that has become all too evident in recent years.

“Had this bird died of natural causes or if the tag had become detached, we would be able to locate and retrieve it.

“Given the well-proven reliability of this technology, when no body or tag is found, this is highly suspicious. We believe this bird has been killed and the tag destroyed.”

The young bird is the latest of many to disappear without explanation on or near a grouse moor.

In May this year a buzzard, a protected bird of prey, was found dead near the border of a central Perthshire estate.

It had been discovered by a League Against Cruel Sports field officer who had been carrying out research on grouse moor management in the area.

A post mortem revealed the bird had died slowly due to a shotgun wound to the leg and secondary infection.

Angus was one of the raptor crime hotspots identified in a Government-commissioned report on the fates of satellite tracked golden eagles in Scotland, published in 2017.

Sadly there has been no let-up in confirmed incidents and suspicious disappearances since then.

Most recently, an osprey was found shot in the Glen Doll area on August 12 – the opening day of the grouse shooting season.

And earlier this year sat-tagged hen harrier ‘Shalimar’ disappeared in circumstances similar to this golden eagle.

If a dead or injured bird of prey is found in suspicious circumstances, call Police Scotland on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form/

To report information anonymously about the killing of birds of prey call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.