Earlier this month Police Scotland issued an appeal for information after the discovery of a dead Osprey, believed to be ‘Laddie’, the resident breeding male from the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Reserve in Perthshire (see here).
The details in the police press release were scant and although the police were clear that criminality had yet to be established, it was widely assumed that a police appeal for information suggested that there was at least a suspicion of criminality. That was a reasonable assumption, I think, given that birds of prey die of natural causes all the time and we don’t see police appeals for information every time a raptor corpse is discovered.
There wasn’t any further information about this case until five days ago when a couple of media outlets (e.g. STV News, here) ran a story stating that the police were no longer treating the death of ‘Laddie’ as a criminal matter, and a police spokesperson was quoted as follows:
“Following initial tests on the bird, no crime has been established at this time. Further tests and a post mortem will take place in due course to gather more information on this death and our enquiries continue“.
It appears from this information that Police Scotland’s appeal for information was premature, to say the least. However, having made some enquiries I’ve now learned that ‘Laddie’ was found with an injury that could have been consistent with him being shot but unfortunately the police issued the appeal for information before ‘Laddie’ had been x-rayed.
I’m loathe to criticise Police Scotland for being too quick to publicise a suspected persecution incident – more often than not, I’m critical of police forces who typically delay appeals for information until weeks/months after a raptor crime has been discovered, when the chance of finding witnesses is seriously diminished.
In this case, I can see why the police issued an early appeal the day after ‘Laddie’s’ body had been found, because there were grounds to suspect he had been shot (i.e. the nature of his injury), but it would have been good practice for them to have waited for the results of the x-ray, which didn’t show any indication that this osprey had been shot.
It’s a fine line for police officers – in this case they got it wrong but they did so with the best of intentions (i.e. to secure potential witnesses) and not to ‘demonise’ the shooting industry, which I’ve seen being claimed by ridiculous conspiracy theorists on certain websites. For example, the police didn’t mention the shooting industry, nor even that they suspected ‘Laddie’ had been shot, and they were very clear that they hadn’t yet established whether he’d been illegally killed. They simply appealed for information. Many members of the public did make the assumption he’d been shot, and again, who can blame them given the track record of the shooting industry over many decades.
The cause of death is still not yet known – ‘Laddie’ has been sent for a post mortem.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Thanks Ruth. I’m wondering if he was injured fighting another male Osprey, as there is a lot of competition for fishing sites and nests? That would typically show as a puncture wound. He was ‘getting on a bit’ in terms of Osprey age. Poor Laddie, he was a lovely bird. Quite a star!
Very sad that both Loch Garten and Loch of the Lowes have suffered natural losses/disruption this year. Personally, I don’t think the police were wrong – as you say, asking for information now logically leads to the assumption of criminal human activity but someone might have come forward saying ‘I’ve seen two osprey fighting’ or ‘I saw a big bird hit a powerline’,
Thank you for this full clear and transparent update, really appreciated.
hmmm, all it says is no criminality so far. The PM may reveal ituerwise.
A relief to hear it was natural causes, we don’t need any more persecution hotspot locations evolving on the map of UK. I think the police did the right thing by making a precautionary early appeal and on reasonable grounds (and wish they would start doing it in grouse moor cases where they risk upsetting powerful people) – as it is the best chance of getting any potential witnesses from the general public in the area on that day. Any of the big men from the the shooting world feigning hurt feelings should just grow a pair and remember to stick to the propaganda line – that they are as keen as anybody to help root out the “one or two bad apples”, etc.
Has the X-ray been made available?
Thank you for this update. I think you have struck the balance well in terms of praising the police for a quick appeal for information, but also pointing out that it might have been wise to wait for the outcome of the x-ray. I think this is a difficult judgement for police Scotland. Personally, I favour asking for possible witnesses early, but I also understand why that might not necessarily be the best course of action.