Eight golden eagles vanish in Scotland
Eight young golden eagles have vanished in the same area in less than five years.
RSPB Scotland has reported the disappearance of eight golden eagles in the Monadhliath Mountains in less than five years. It is feared the birds are being killed and their satellite transmitters destroyed.
All eight birds were less than three years old when they vanished from areas intensively managed for gamebird shooting. The iconic birds were fitted with satellite transmitters and were being monitored by conservation groups including RSPB Scotland.
Scottish cabinet secretary Roseanna Cunningham called the reports "very disturbing and disappointing" as she ordered a review of the satellite tracking data. She warned that the Scottish government "is prepared to introduce further regulation of shooting businesses if necessary."
The latest golden eagle to go missing was a young female called Brodie, whose last recorded position was the northern Monadhliath Mountains, south east of Inverness, on the 2 July.
RSPB says that comprehensive searches have been carried out in all of the birds' last known locations, but none of the birds or their transmitters have been found.
In light of the evidence, conservationists suspect foul play. If a transmitter becomes detached from a bird, or the tagged bird dies naturally, the satellite will continue to transmit. In all eight cases, transmitters appeared to be working correctly before the data suddenly stopped coming through.
RSPB Scotland's head of investigations, Ian Thomson, said: "Given the reliability of the transmitters, the chance of so many birds disappearing over such a short timescale without some kind of human interference is so small as to be negligible. The pattern we see here is consistent with the birds having been killed and the transmitters destroyed."
Mr Thomson also said it is "surely no coincidence" that the majority of disappearances have been in areas that are intensively managed for gamebird shooting and have "an appalling previous record" of raptor persecution.
Following the reports, the Scottish government will look at data from around 90 surviving and missing satellite-tagged eagles to find out if there is a pattern of suspicious activity.
Roseanna Cunningham commented: "The public rightly expects all businesses in Scotland to obey the law. Let me be clear: grouse shooting is no exception."
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