A one year old white-tailed sea eagle was found poisoned on Glenogil Estate in August 2009. The young bird, known as ‘Bird 89’, had been donated by Norway in 2008 as part of the East Coast Re-introduction Project. Glenogil Estate is owned by multi-millionaire businessman John Dodd, according to The Scotsman. Grouse management at Glenogil is undertaken in association with Mark Osborne, according to The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/22/wildlife.conservation
Bird 89 was found in a ‘decomposed’ state in August 2009. It is thought the eagle died much earlier than this, as its radio tracking signal stopped working in March 2009. According to some sources, the RSPB tracking team could not locate the dead bird for many months until they hired an expert tracker in August. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Sea-eagle-found-poisoned-.5995940.jp
The RSPB has accused Tayside Police of being incompetent, as the poisoning incident was not made public until January 2010, almost five months after the bird was found, and probably 10 months after the bird was actually killed. Further info: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/birdsofprey/RSPB-claims-police–less.6012566.jp
No arrests have been made.
According to The Scotsman, previous incidents of suspected wildlife crime on or close to Glenogil Estate include:
May 2006: Suspected rabbit poisoned bait found – tests by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture lab confirmed it had been laced with outlawed pesticide carbofuran.
June 2006: Bait found laced with carbofuran, also found on equipment and vehicles. Estate owner John Dodd subsequently had £107,000 withdrawn from his single farm payment subsidy by the Scottish Government. He is appealing against this. Further information available here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/22/wildlife.conservation
November 2007: Tayside Police informed a white-tailed eagle had been shot by a Glenogil estate employee. No carcase was found, but the bird, fitted with a radio transmitter, is still missing.
May 2008: A white-tailed sea eagle known as ‘White G’ was found dead by a neighbouring landowner. It had been poisoned with carbofuran and other pesticides.
Three days later, Tayside Police and RSPB staff found the carcass of a buzzard lying next to the Glenogil Estate boundary fence. It had been poisoned. Carcass of a hare was found to have been laced with same chemicals that killed eagle.
October 2008: A meat bait is found on a fence post within Glenogil Estate, laced with an illegal chemical mix.
March 2009: Two dead buzzards found on the estate. Both birds had been poisoned.
August 2009: White-tailed sea eagle ‘Bird 89’ found poisoned on Glenogil Estate.
Raptor Persecution UK 