The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that within the latest SASA poisoning report (see below) there is a case listed that refers to a white-tailed sea eagle and a golden eagle.
Scroll down to the bottom of page 8 of the report. Incident Ref # 10123. Dated June 2010. In the Highland region, Carbofuran is reported as the cause of death for one sea eagle and one golden eagle. The incident is reported as an ongoing police investigation. Click here for details: SASA poisoning positive results 2010
Hmm, interesting. Were the deaths of these two eagles in June 2010 reported in the press? I didn’t see anything. Why wasn’t it reported? If asked, the authorities will probably say that they wanted to collect evidence without first alerting the eagle killers that the dead eagles had been discovered. That’s fair enough. But what about now, several months on? Why should these types of incident go unreported in the press? What’s so different about wildlife crime to any other type of crime that DOES get reported? It wouldn’t be so bad if the figures for the successful prosecution of wildlife crime offenders were good. But have we seen any successful prosecutions for eagle persecution in Scotland in recent years (infact, ever)? No, we haven’t.
So, do we have yet another incident of eagle poisoning in Scotland this year, and if so, where was it and what is being done to bring the killers to justice? What’s being hidden here?
If we want to give the eagle killers a reason to continue what they’re doing, we are handing them the perfect opportunity on a plate. By having news black outs, they know they can carry on poisoning to their heart’s content because no-one will be drawing it to the public’s attention. Genius.
Raptor Persecution UK 