Tag: golden eagle

Responses to ‘missing’ satellite-tagged golden eagle nr Tomatin

Four days ago we blogged about the ‘disappearance’ of yet another satellite-tagged golden eagle, the 12th eagle in seven years to vanish in suspicious circumstances in this particular area managed for driven grouse shooting.

Here are some of the responses:

Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham –

This golden eagle has disappeared in an area which has long been associated with the illegal persecution of birds of prey. We may never discover exactly what has happened in the case of this latest disappearance. But we do know the illegal killing of Scotland’s magnificent birds of prey continues – primarily in areas which are intensively managed for driven grouse shooting.

No-one should be in any doubt about my determination to act decisively to uphold the law and protect Scotland’s magnificent birds of prey. I look forward to receiving the Werritty Report into how we can ensure grouse shooting is sustainable and complies with the law, which is due to be published early next year”.

We’re in no doubt at all about Roseanna Cunningham’s sincerity on this issue. Like every other sane and law-abiding member of society, she’s appalled that this continues and is probably deeply embarrassed that it continues to happen on her watch, hence her announcement last May of the newly-commissioned grouse moor review panel. We all welcomed that news because finally, after many, many years, it seemed the Scottish Government was finally listening, was in full acknowledgement of the evidence, and was prepared to act.

But it seems from Roseanna’s statement that nothing more will be done for at least another year, and if truth be told, it’ll take longer than a year because as has already been indicated, if the Werritty Report does recommend an introduction of a licensing scheme, the Scottish Government will need to hold a public consultation before any changes are brought in. Can we afford to wait for another year, two years, three years? No, we can’t. The Scottish Government needs to get a grip and tackle the criminal element within the grouse shooting industry with speed and force. There’s absolutely no excuse not to act now.

Rural Economy & Connectivity Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing (in whose constiuency this eagle disappeared)  –

Silence. Again.

Utterly, utterly shameful.

UPDATE 20.00hrs: In email correspondence today with a constituent, Mr Ewing MSP said the Environment Cab Sec “has responsibility to make public comment on this [illegal raptor persecution] but I have done so as well“. If anyone has a record of this public comment we’d be happy to share it here.

UPDATE 22 March 2018: Fergus Ewing speaks out here

David Johnstone, Chairman, Scottish Land & Estates – 

“RSPB has stated today that a young golden eagle fitted with a satellite tag disappeared three months ago in the Northern Monadhliath mountains. We have no hesitation in urging anyone who can provide information on the matter to contact Police Scotland.

We are, however, deeply concerned by the assumption by RSPB that this eagle is most likely the victim of a wildlife crime perpetrated on a grouse moor. Yet again, we see RSPB acting unilaterally as judge and jury without waiting for those professional experts in the police and the procurator fiscals’ office to reach an informed decision as to the actual facts. We believe this continual smearing of grouse moors actually runs the risk of being counterproductive and directly impacting all the good, productive collaboration that has taken place in recent years.

Incidents such as this absolutely do need to be investigated but it is for Police Scotland to lead investigations. They have very extensive powers to gather evidence as they see fit, and we would expect all our members to assist them in their enquiries.

To be clear, we as an organisation – and on behalf of our members – condemn all forms of wildlife crime. We are not saying that wildlife crime never occurs on land managed for grouse shooting and acknowledge that in the past, there were practices, including raptor persecution, that are simply unacceptable but which have declined markedly in recent years and this trend is borne out by the Scottish Government’s own statistics. We also note that RSPB itself describes the area involved in this case as one where eagles have done well in recent years.

Of course, more work needs to be done ensure the decline in wildlife crime continues and we are an enthusiastic member of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland (PAWS). It has been proven time and again that constructive collaboration gets the best results. Alongside this, we and numerous grouse shooting estates are active members of the Heads Up for Harriers project as well as being key drivers in the South of Scotland Golden Eagle reintroduction project. 

Instead, what we have is a sustained effort to blacken the name of grouse shooting without evidence. It is perhaps no coincidence this is happening when the Scottish Government has instigated an independent review into grouse shooting which is ongoing at this very moment. Despite being a member in PAWS, we have seen absolutely no evidence or data from this eagle or from the recent case of Fred which disappeared in the Pentland Hills.

We are fully supportive of the government review into grouse shooting as set up by the Cabinet Secretary, its practices, and the many environmental, economic and social benefits it provides across rural Scotland. We are also fully supportive of the proposals within the Poustie report that recommends the strengthening of penalties with regard to wildlife crimes.”

This statement was met with deserved derision on social media.

“What we have is a sustained effort to blacken the name of grouse shooting without evidence“, declares Mr Johnstone. Without evidence? Really? Apart from the massively obvious fact that the circumstances of this latest eagle’s disappearance mirror, exactly, the suspicious disappearances of 42 other satellite-tagged golden eagles on or near driven grouse moors in Scotland, as detailed in the Scottish Government-commissioned report published last year. Is Mr Johnstone in open defiance of the findings of that report? If he is, then let’s have the details of his objections.

Once again, with tedious repitition, SLE tries to shoot the messenger (RSPB Scotland) and suggests that the investigation needs to be undertaken by Police Scotland. Perhaps he should re-read the RSPB’s press release which clearly states the police ARE investigating. SLE will also know that the RSPB would not have put out a press statement without agreement from the police. To suggest that the RSPB is acting alone and not in partnership with the police is a wholly disingenuous attempt to discredit the RSPB.

Mr Johnstone also argues that illegal raptor persecution has “declined markedly in recent years and this trend is borne out by the Scottish Government’s own statistics”. SLE was taken to task about this on Twitter by James Reynolds, Head of Media at RSPB Scotland, as follows:

Mr Johnstone cynically infers that the RSPB released the news of this ‘missing’ eagle to coincide with the on-going review of grouse moor management. Ah, sorry, was this news release inconvenient? Hasn’t this argument been used before, with claims made that RSPB news releases on raptor persecution were timed to coincide with the start of the grouse-shooting season? Does it damage the industry’s failing propaganda campaign to portray itself as law-abiding and sustainable? Should the news have been withheld until after the review has been submitted next year?

There was one part of Mr Johnstone’s statement that interested us the most:

“We are not saying that wildlife crime never occurs on land managed for grouse shooting and acknowledge that in the past, there were practices, including raptor persecution, that are simply unacceptable….”

Could Mr Johnstone or anybody else from SLE please tell us which incidents on grouse moors, in the past, he now accepts as being confirmed raptor persecution crime?

Anonymous spokesperson from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association –

“If anyone has information they should contact Police Scotland. If it is proven any harm has come to this bird and if it transpires there is evidence that that harm was the responsibility of an SGA member, they will be subject to our very strict wildlife crime disciplinary code.

The legal process deserves respect before people automatically jump to apportioning blame.

It is becoming increasingly impossible to gain full transparency surrounding these incidents when those holding the data are the tag owners who then dictate process and message.

At the same time, these tag owners are actively lobbying to persuade government to legislate against grouse moors.

If investigations were to have the best chance of success and procedural transparency, this data would be held centrally by an impartial body who could look into everything such as the reliability of the tag, who fitted it, the evidence of criminality which exists and the full range of other factors which could cause a mechanical device to stop signalling after many months in the wild.

When a tag from a Hen Harrier stopped signalling on one of RSPB’s own nature reserves in the Cairngorms National Park, the charity stated the last known location of a tag was ‘only an indication of the broad general area’ where that bird was spending time.

That being the case, the public deserve to see the hard evidence which exists that the lost signal was down to grouse management and not any other cause such as a faltering tag, natural mortality, eagles fighting over territory or any of the other land uses in the broad general area which include farming, forestry and wind energy.”

‘The legal process deserves respect’. Good grief!!!! We can hardly be bothered to respond to this unmitigated tosh from the SGA. Let’s just look at what happened the last time the SGA was given access to the data of a satellite-tagged golden eagle (see here) and leave it at that.

On a brighter note, in response to the news of this latest satellite-tagged eagle to go ‘missing’ in highly suspicious circumstances north of Tomatin, the Shooting Times tweeted this:

Whether you agree with shooting or not is irrelevant. The Shooting Times deserves much credit for showing unprompted condemnation and leadership. Perhaps the Editor can be invited to serve on the PAW Scotland Raptor Group in place of the SGA (who are currently refusing to attend meetings), then we might actually start to see some progress.

Yet another golden eagle disappears on a Scottish grouse moor

“They can hide the bodies. They can hide the tags. But they can’t hide the pattern” (Dr Hugh Webster)

RSPB Press release:

ANOTHER SATELLITE-TAGGED GOLDEN EAGLE ‘DISAPPEARS’ IN INVERNESS-SHIRE

Conservationists are concerned about the safety of a young pair of eagles after news emerged that another satellite-tagged golden eagle has disappeared in the northern Monadhliath Mountains of Inverness-shire.

Data from the two-year old male’s transmitter showed that he had been living in an upland area, mainly managed for driven grouse shooting, north of Tomatin, since early last year. He had stayed almost exclusively in this area until mid December, when his tag, that had been functioning as expected, inexplicably stopped transmitting.

A follow-up investigation by Police Scotland has not yielded further clues as to the bird’s fate, and no further data has been received from the satellite tag.

The young bird, fitted with a tag sponsored by SSE, before it fledged from a nest in the Cairngorms National Park, was paired to a 2 year-old female, coincidentally also fitted with a transmitter. Data from her tag shows that she left the same area for several days following the male’s sudden disappearance, possibly searching for her missing mate, before returning to the territory. She has subsequently been joined there by another young male, also reinforcing the case that the two year old bird has disappeared.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Species and Land Management said: “A report published by the Scottish Government last May, prompted by the regular disappearance of satellite-tagged eagles in this same area, provided unequivocal evidence that the sudden disappearance of these birds is highly suspicious. This is now the twelfth tagged eagle to go missing in this “black hole” in just seven years and is entirely consistent with the systematic and ongoing illegal persecution of eagles in this area.”

The missing bird and its mate were occupying a traditional golden eagle territory, but one where the nest has not been successful for decades despite good habitat and prey. In 2016, the area was occupied by a lone adult male, but he too disappeared.

Duncan Orr-Ewing continued: “Despite very recent and high level public warnings from Scottish Government, it appears that criminals intent on killing golden eagles continue to target these magnificent birds, especially in areas managed for driven grouse shooting. Patience with self-regulation is at an end and meaningful deterrents are now urgently required. We support the introduction of new measures to license driven grouse shooting, including powers for the public authorities to remove such licences, where there is good evidence of criminal behaviour”.

“In parts of the Monadhliaths, such as the area from where this bird fledged, golden eagles are doing well, but the efforts by some landowners, farmers and gamekeepers to protect these magnificent birds are constantly being undermined by persecution when eagles move out of these safe areas. There can be little doubt that current legislation and enforcement have proven to be insufficient deterrents to those criminals, invariably linked to the management of driven grouse shooting, who are intent on killing protected birds of prey.”

Anyone who can provide information about the disappearance of this bird, or other raptor persecution incidents, is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, or to phone the confidential RSPB Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

The location information provided by the press release is a bit vague: ‘an upland area, mainly managed for driven grouse shooting, north of Tomatin‘. Hmm. According to Andy Wightman’s brilliant Who Owns Scotland website, this might be Moy Estate. Moy is an upland area, it is mainly managed for driven grouse shooting, and it is north of Tomatin. It’s also an estate where in 2010 a police search uncovered the leg rings of four young golden eagles being kept in a jar at a gamekeeper’s home. The gamekeeper apparently couldn’t provide an explanation for how he came to have them in his possession. Yes, this eagle might have disappeared from Moy Estate but it’s impossible to be certain without more detailed information.

[Estate boundary derived from Who Owns Scotland]

What is certain, is that this is yet another highly suspicious disappearance of a satellite-tagged golden eagle on or close to a Scottish grouse moor. What number is this one, 42? No, that was Fred. Number 43, perhaps? It’s hard to keep up.

And this latest eagle, according to Duncan Orr-Ewing (RSPB Scotland) is the 12th tagged eagle to vanish in this area in just seven years. That is scandalous.

The area in question is part of Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing’s constituency. There’s one hell of a record of illegal raptor persecution on his patch. You’d think, being a senior member of the governing SNP (Cab Sec for the Rural Economy & Connectivity) and with all this crime going on on his own doorstep in the Monadhliaths, he’d be jumping up and down, beetroot-faced with rage, determined to bring this to a halt. But so far, in all the years we’ve been writing about these crimes, we’ve heard nothing from him but praise and adulation for the grouse-shooting industry.

What we can also be certain of is the reaction from the grouse-shooting industry. There’ll be denials, there’ll be claims this disappearance isn’t suspicious, there’ll be attacks on the RSPB for daring to publicise it, there’ll be accusations of a set-up, there’ll be a refusal to believe these tags have a 98% reliability record, there’ll be imaginary windfarms, there’ll be real windfarms, there’ll be irrelevant data from satellite-tagged Olive Ridley Turtles in Bangladesh, there’ll be claims he was blown out to sea on a gust of wind, there’ll be claims he flew in to a fence, broke his legs and rolled himself off a hill to fly through the night before crashing in a forest, there’ll be calls for Chris Packham to be sacked from the BBC, there’ll be claims the eagle fell in to a burn and was washed away downstream. There’ll be every possible explanation under the sun, except, of course, for the glaringly obvious.

Why is it, satellite-tagged golden eagles on or close to grouse moors in Scotland are 25 times more likely to ‘disappear’ than anywhere else in the word where this species has been tagged?

We keep coming back to a recent quote from Dr Hugh Webster, because it says everything:

“They can hide the bodies. They can hide the tags. But they can’t hide the pattern“.

The grouse shooting industry is making fools of the Scottish Government. Again and again and again. But for how much longer?

UPDATES

Response from Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association here (we’ll be blogging about this later – see below)

Response from Scottish Land & Estates here (we’ll be blogging about this later – see below)

Article in Scotsman here

Article in the Herald here

Article on BBC website here

Article in Press & Journal here

Article on STV here, including a quote from Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, as follows:

“This golden eagle has disappeared in an area which has long been associated with the illegal persecution of birds of prey.

We may never discover exactly what has happened in the case of this latest disappearance.

But we do know the illegal killing of Scotland’s magnificent birds of prey continues – primarily in areas which are intensively managed for driven grouse shooting.

No-one should be in any doubt about my determination to act decisively to uphold the law and protect Scotland’s magnificent birds of prey.

I look forward to receiving the Werritty Report into how we can ensure grouse shooting is sustainable and complies with the law, which is due to be published early next year“.

Article in Scottish Daily Mail here

New blog post: Responses to missing satellite-tagged golden eagle nr Tomatin (here)

Police acknowledge golden eagle Fred’s disappearance is highly suspicious

Two weeks ago we blogged about a motion raised by Edinburgh Councillor Chas Booth (Scottish Greens) calling on Edinburgh City Council to take action in response to the highly suspicious disapearance of golden eagle Fred in the Pentland Hills (see here).

Last week we blogged about an attempt by Tim (Kim) Baynes, Director of the Scottish Moorland Group (part of Scottish Land & Estates) to downplay the suspicious circumstances of Fred’s disappearance and to derail Cllr Booth’s motion (see here).

Cllr Booth’s motion was due to be heard by Edinburgh City Council’s Transport & Environment Committee on 1st March 2018 but the meeting was postponed due to the snow.

The meeting was rescheduled and took place yesterday.

Prior to the meeting, Tim (Kim) Baynes sent another letter to the Committee, again attempting to derail the motion, as follows:

This letter, implying (incorrectly) that there is no evidence of criminal activity in relation to Fred’s disappearance, prompted Conservative councillor Nick Cook to call for ‘no action’ on the motion.

However, Cllr Booth sent around an email he’d received from Police Scotland that said they were “happy with the wording” of his motion (i.e. that Fred’s disappearance was indeed highly suspicious) and Cllr Booth argued that the opinion of Police Scotland held far greater weight than the opinion of Scottish Land & Estates.

Cllr Booth further argued that rather than delaying the motion until the police investigation had ended, the timing of the motion was even more pertinent now, in that one of the motion’s statements included referring the matter to the Pentland Hills Regional Park Joint Committee, to ask them to consider writing to landowners in the region highlighting this incident and encouraging them to report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland or the RSPB.

The Committee voted on the motion and despite three Conservative councillors voting against it, the motion was carried by 8 votes to 3.

Well done and thank you, Cllr Chas Booth.

Here’s the motion that was carried:

Green Motion – Suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle in Pentland Hills

Committee:

  1. Notes with grave concern reports of the suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle, who hatched from a nest in the Scottish Borders to the only breeding pair of Golden Eagles in the region, and who, according to his satellite tag, was in woodland near Currie in January 2018, within the Edinburgh Council boundary;
  2.  Notes that Fred’s satellite tracker is reported to have suddenly and inexplicably stopped transmitting on 21 January 2018, and then to have mysteriously started transmitting again on 24 January 2018, with a GPS location some 15 miles offshore of St Andrews, Fife.
  3. Further notes that RSPB Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK regard Fred’s disappearance as highly suspicious and believe it is likely that he has been illegally killed;
  4. Notes that the Golden Eagle is a magnificent and majestic bird and one of the largest birds of prey in the British Isles, notes that it is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but notes that nonetheless it has been illegally killed and persecuted in the past;
  5. Notes that a Scottish Government-commissioned study in 2017 found that 41 of 131 satellite-tagged Golden Eagles had disappeared in suspicious circumstances, most of them at or near to managed grouse moors;
  6. Notes that the Scottish Government have established a working group with a view to establishing a licensing regime for game-shooting estates;
  7. Agrees that the suspicious disappearance of Fred is deeply regrettable, and urges anyone with any knowledge of this incident, or any other incidents of possible wildlife crime, to contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively call the RSPB’s new confidential raptor crime hotline on 0300 999 0101;
  8. Agrees that the Council Leader will write to the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment expressing the council’s grave concern at this incident, asking her to outline a timetable for the introduction of the licensing of game-shooting estates; offering the council’s cooperation with any such licensing regime, and offering the council’s support for consideration of stiffer penalties for wildlife crime;
  9. Agrees to refer the matter to the Pentland Hills Regional Park Joint Committee, to ask them to consider writing to landowners in the region highlighting this incident and encouraging them to report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland or the RSPB.

Moved by Cllr Chas Booth, Seconded by Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Greens).

Fred the golden eagle: police investigation still very much ongoing

The criminals within the game-shooting industry are deeply concerned about what might be revealed by the police investigation in to the highly suspicious disappearance of our satellite-tagged golden eagle Fred.

The following was posted on the BASC facebook page today and has since been doing the rounds on social media, accompanied by various defamatory accusations that we (RPUK, Chris Packham, and Ian Thomson from RSPB) are all “compulsive liars”:

FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF ANY DOUBT, THE POLICE INVESTIGATION IS STILL ONGOING.

The police have been given the new data we were able to retrieve from Fred’s tag, which very much support our earlier suspicion that Fred was a victim of illegal persecution.

Rest assured, we WILL be publishing these data in due course.

For now, we have to let the police do their job.

But thanks, game-shooting criminals, for keeping Fred’s highly suspicious disappearance in the news. Much appreciated.

Scottish Moorland Group Director in desperate bid to downplay suspicious disappearance of golden eagle Fred

Last week we blogged about a motion being put forward to Edinburgh City Council’s Transport & Environment Committee by Scottish Greens Councillor Chas Booth, calling for action after the highly suspicious disappearance of golden eagle Fred in the Pentland Hills (see here).

To recap, here is the text of that motion:

1 March 2018

Green Motion – Suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle in Pentland Hills

Committee:

  1. Notes with grave concern reports of the suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle, who hatched from a nest in the Scottish Borders to the only breeding pair of Golden Eagles in the region, and who, according to his satellite tag, was in woodland near Currie in January 2018, within the Edinburgh Council boundary;
  2.  Notes that Fred’s satellite tracker is reported to have suddenly and inexplicably stopped transmitting on 21 January 2018, and then to have mysteriously started transmitting again on 24 January 2018, with a GPS location some 15 miles offshore of St Andrews, Fife.
  3. Further notes that RSPB Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK regard Fred’s disappearance as highly suspicious and believe it is likely that he has been illegally killed;
  4. Notes that the Golden Eagle is a magnificent and majestic bird and one of the largest birds of prey in the British Isles, notes that it is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but notes that nonetheless it has been illegally killed and persecuted in the past;
  5. Notes that a Scottish Government-commissioned study in 2017 found that 41 of 131 satellite-tagged Golden Eagles had disappeared in suspicious circumstances, most of them at or near to managed grouse moors;
  6. Notes that the Scottish Government have established a working group with a view to establishing a licensing regime for game-shooting estates;
  7. Agrees that the suspicious disappearance of Fred is deeply regrettable, and urges anyone with any knowledge of this incident, or any other incidents of possible wildlife crime, to contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively call the RSPB’s new confidential raptor crime hotline on 0300 999 0101;
  8. Agrees that the Council Leader will write to the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment expressing the council’s grave concern at this incident, asking her to outline a timetable for the introduction of the licensing of game-shooting estates; offering the council’s cooperation with any such licensing regime, and offering the council’s support for consideration of stiffer penalties for wildlife crime;
  9. Agrees to refer the matter to the Pentland Hills Regional Park Joint Committee, to ask them to consider writing to landowners in the region highlighting this incident and encouraging them to report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland or the RSPB.

Moved by            Cllr Chas Booth

ENDS

In response to this motion, the Director of the Scottish Moorland Group (a sub-group of Scottish Land & Estates) Tim (Kim) Baynes has written to the Committee to offer some ‘advice’, as follows:

As we’ve come to expect from Tim (Kim), it reeks of desperation and is light on facts. Let’s just examine some of his ‘advice’.

Tim (Kim) is “concerned” by the use of the word ‘suspicious’ and ‘highly suspicious’. Eh? How else would you define the sudden and inexplicable loss of GPS location data when Fred was in an area managed for driven grouse shooting, an activity that has a long and proven association with the illegal persecution of eagles and other raptor species, and then the weird re-awakening of the tag some 10-15 miles offshore in the North Sea?!

Does Tim (Kim) think this is normal? How many of the 141 satellite-tagged golden eagles (2004-2016) behaved in this way? Shall we have a look?

According to over half a million recorded locations, as analysed for the Golden Eagle Satellite Tag Review, it would seem that none of them followed this pattern of behaviour, as this map from the Review clearly shows:

[The half a million + locations are summarised here in 4km sq, with red dots showing low density and green dots showing high density. The black stars indicate the last known fixes of all satellite-tagged eagles as of 15 January 2016, including those still transmitting].

To suggest that the behaviour of Fred’s tag is anything other than suspicious is plainly absurd. Indeed, Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham agrees with us. Quoted during her interview about Fred with Chris Packham a few weeks ago she said:

“As far as we’re currently aware it’s [Fred’s disappearance] unexplained circumstances but they do come under the category of suspicious“.

Tim (Kim) also states, “There is no evidence that Fred has been killed and the full circumstances do not substantiate that theory“.

On the contrary, Tim (Kim) is not privy to the full circumstances of Fred’s suspicious disappearance and he has no idea what evidence has been provided to Police Scotland’s investigation. Indeed, we have commented previously that since Fred’s disappearance, we have been able to access further information from his tag and this information only serves to corroborate our earlier suspicion that Fred was the victim of illegal persecution. Unfortunately at this stage of the police investigation we’re unable to publish that new information but we fully intend to do so in due course and it will leave little (no) doubt about the highly suspicious circumstances of Fred’s disappearance.

Tim (Kim) claims, “It is a leap of logic to assume that because eagles have been killed elsewhere in the past that Fred has been killed“. Well, it might be a leap of logic if the circumstances of Fred’s disappearance didn’t match so closely with the circumstances of all those other disappearing eagles, but unfortunately for Tim (Kim), Fred’s disappearance bears all the hallmarks of suspected illegal persecution. i.e. his tag suddenly and inexplicably stopped, with no identified technical malfunction, and he disappeared in an area managed for driven grouse shooting. And again, the Cabinet Secretary, not known for being illogical, agrees:

“About a third of the disappeared eagles [whose data were analysed in the Sat Tag Review] were disappearing in the sort of circumstances we’re talking about with Fred: unexplained, suspicious, and sadly there were clear clusters and those clusters tended to be around driven grouse shoots”

and

“It’s [Fred’s disappearance] an unfortunate addition to the statistics that we already have of the numbers of unexplained disappearances of tagged eagles“.

Tim (Kim) continues, “It is important to clarify that the Pentlands has very little grouse moor management due to comprehensive public access and no tagged Golden Eagles have previously disappeared in the Pentlands“.

So what if there is “very little” grouse moor management there? The point is, there is some driven grouse moor management there, which according to local sources has intensified in the last year, and that grouse moor just happens to be in very close proximity to Fred’s last known GPS location in the Pentlands. That’s not an attempt on our part to apportion blame, but is simply pointing out an indisputable fact.

Tim (Kim) is correct to say that “no tagged golden eagles have previously disappeared in the Pentlands” but that shouldn’t be misconstrued as an indication that tagged eagles have previously been left unmolested there. You only have to look at the red map above to see that no tagged golden eagles have previously been recorded in the Pentlands! Fred was the first to visit and he disappeared within a couple of days of being there.

One final point. Tim (Kim) implies that we, as a “private organisation” have somehow caused “potential problems” with the police investigation in to Fred’s suspicious disappearance. We’re not sure what he’s getting at here but if he has any evidence of this he should be explicit. Put up or shut up, Tim (Kim).

As far as we’re aware, Police Scotland has appreciated the assistance and information we’ve been able to provide to help with the ongoing police investigation, just as we appreciate the effort and diligence of the Police Wildlife Crime Officer leading this case.

UPDATE 11.45hrs: Today’s planned Edinburgh City Council Transport & Environment Committee meeting has been postponed due to the bad weather. We’ll report as soon as we find out the re-scheduled date.

Edinburgh Council called to action following suspicious disappearance of golden eagle Fred

Press release from Edinburgh Green Party:

Edinburgh Green councillors have called on the City Council to take action following the suspicious disappearance of Fred the Golden Eagle from the Pentlands in January. The council’s environment committee will consider a motion on Thursday 1 March from Green councillor Chas Booth to raise the issue with the Scottish Government. The motion also urges the Pentland Hills Regional Park to write to landowners in the area urging them to report suspicious activity to the police.

Chas Booth, Green councillor for Leith, and a member of the council’s environment committee, said,

“I was walking with my family just a few fields away from Fred’s last GPS location near Currie the day before his disappearance was made public. It is heart-breaking to think that, had it not been for his suspicious disappearance, my children might have witnessed this spectacular bird soaring over the Pentlands. And it appears no other Edinburgh resident will witness that amazing sight either, at least in the short term.

“So I would encourage anyone who has any knowledge of the disappearance of this magnificent bird to contact Police Scotland on 101 or the RSPB raptor persecution hotline on on 0300 999 0101, to ensure that, if a wildlife crime has indeed happened in this case, that those responsible can be brought to justice.

“And I hope the council will approve my motion on Thursday, to send a clear message that wildlife crime will not be tolerated in Scotland’s capital. I also urge the Pentlands Hills Regional Park authority to engage with landowners in the area to encourage them to report any suspicious behaviour to police.”

The full text of the motion to be considered by the council’s environment committee is below:

City of Edinburgh Council

Transport and Environment Committee

1 March 2018

Green Motion – Suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle in Pentland Hills

Committee:

  1. Notes with grave concern reports of the suspicious disappearance of ‘Fred’ the Golden Eagle, who hatched from a nest in the Scottish Borders to the only breeding pair of Golden Eagles in the region, and who, according to his satellite tag, was in woodland near Currie in January 2018, within the Edinburgh Council boundary; 2.
  2.  Notes that Fred’s satellite tracker is reported to have suddenly and inexplicably stopped transmitting on 21 January 2018, and then to have mysteriously started transmitting again on 24 January 2018, with a GPS location some 15 miles offshore of St Andrews, Fife.
  3. Further notes that RSPB Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK regard Fred’s disappearance as highly suspicious and believe it is likely that he has been illegally killed;
  4. Notes that the Golden Eagle is a magnificent and majestic bird and one of the largest birds of prey in the British Isles, notes that it is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but notes that nonetheless it has been illegally killed and persecuted in the past;
  5. Notes that a Scottish Government-commissioned study in 2017 found that 41 of 131 satellite-tagged Golden Eagles had disappeared in suspicious circumstances, most of them at or near to managed grouse moors;
  6. Notes that the Scottish Government have established a working group with a view to establishing a licensing regime for game-shooting estates;
  7. Agrees that the suspicious disappearance of Fred is deeply regrettable, and urges anyone with any knowledge of this incident, or any other incidents of possible wildlife crime, to contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively call the RSPB’s new confidential raptor crime hotline on 0300 999 0101;
  8. Agrees that the Council Leader will write to the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment expressing the council’s grave concern at this incident, asking her to outline a timetable for the introduction of the licensing of game-shooting estates; offering the council’s cooperation with any such licensing regime, and offering the council’s support for consideration of stiffer penalties for wildlife crime;
  9. Agrees to refer the matter to the Pentland Hills Regional Park Joint Committee, to ask them to consider writing to landowners in the region highlighting this incident and encouraging them to report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland or the RSPB.

Moved by            Cllr Chas Booth

ENDS

[Photo of Fred by Ruth Tingay]

Raptor persecution: Chris Packham’s extended interview with Ian Thomson

Ten days ago we published a video about the highly suspicious disappearance of Fred, one of our satellite-tagged golden eagles.

The video included a number of interviews that had to be edited due to time contraints in the original film. One of those interviews was Chris Packham talking with Ian Thomson (Head of Investigations, RSPB Scoland) about the continued illegal persecution of golden eagles in Scotland.

Here is the full interview:

Raptor persecution: Chris Packham’s extended interview with Roseanna Cunningham

Last week we published a video about the highly suspicious disappearance of Fred, one of our satellite-tagged golden eagles.

The video included a number of interviews that had to be edited due to time contraints in the original video. One of those interviews was Chris Packham talking with Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham about her reaction to the continued illegal killing of golden eagles and other raptors on or near to land managed for driven grouse shooting.

Here is the full interview.

Golden eagle Fred makes it to First Minister’s Questions in Scottish Parliament

Many thanks to Alison Johnstone MSP for raising the issue of Golden eagle Fred’s highly suspicious disappearance, at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliamentary chamber this lunchtime.

Here’s what Alison said, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s response:

Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green): In 2017, a rare and beautiful young golden eagle was raised in the Scottish borders by the only pair of breeding adults there. He was satellite tagged, and last month he left home for the first time. Less than a week later, he disappeared in the Pentland hills near Currie. His tag stopped sending data for three days, then started again, this time in the North Sea off St Andrews. RSPB Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK regard the disappearance as highly suspicious, and I believe it is likely that the young eagle has been illegally killed.

Donald Dewar described the persecution of birds of prey as “a national disgrace”, but it is still going on. What is the Scottish Government doing in response to the reports? Will the First Minister finally commit to a licensing regime for game bird shooting?

The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon): First, I agree that the persecution of birds of prey is unacceptable, and I absolutely associate myself with the comments that Alison Johnstone has made in that regard. The Government treats this and sees it as an extremely serious issue.

As Alison Johnstone will be aware, a group was set up following a report on the issue that was commissioned and published last year, and it is looking at various aspects such as licensing and the impact of grouse shooting. I—and, I am sure, Roseanna Cunningham as the responsible minister—will be happy to meet Alison Johnstone to discuss that work in more detail. I am sure that all of us across the chamber are united in agreeing that this is unacceptable and requires to be tackled robustly.

ENDS

The video of this exchange may be viewed on Scottish Parliament TV here (starts at 12.33.20).

It’s not the first time in recent months that illegal raptor persecution has been discussed at such a high level Parliamentary session. Last May, Richard Lochhead MSP raised the issue of video inadmissibility in the case of the shot hen harrier on Cabrach Estate and the Crown’s decision to drop criminal proceedings.

Golden eagle Fred: the SGA doth protest too much

The highly suspicious disappearance of our golden eagle Fred continues to make the news.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has issued the following press release today:

GAMEKEEPERS SEEK END TO ‘TRIAL BY MEDIA’ OVER EAGLE.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has called for an end to the ‘trial by media’ over a golden eagle which has gone missing near Edinburgh.

Last week, BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham issued a press release claiming a young satellite tagged eagle had gone missing just miles from the Scottish Parliament, in a wood in the Pentland Hills.

According to the Springwatch presenter, the tag was later found to signal in the North Sea, after appearing to stop transmitting for three days.

A video released to the media by Packham – who actively campaigns for grouse shooting to be banned- implied that the eagle, which has not been located, had been illegally killed.

The video the BBC presenter appeared in, pointed the finger at a grouse moor as it was geographically close to the wood and fields where the bird was understood to be.

Now the SGA has called for an end to what it describes as unsubstantiated speculation and for greater transparency over evidence.

Despite media claims that the area 7 miles to the south of the capital is managed for driven grouse shooting, the moor is used principally as a partridge shoot as quarry numbers are now too low to sustain viable grouse shooting due to high levels of public access.

The area is popular with hikers, dog walkers and mountain bikers from Edinburgh and beyond, with the Pentland Hills welcoming 600 000 visitors per year.

A Spokesman for The Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: “Trial by media has already taken place. Now everyone who has been drawn into this needs the truth as to what happened to this eagle.

“It is not enough for people to be implied as being criminals and those in possession of the satellite tag evidence to walk away, after presenting their judgement to the media, then say no one will probably ever know what has happened.

“If the tags are as reliable as everyone has been told, then the tag data will surely provide conclusive evidence. Many questions need to be answered including why it could not be located in the sea, if it continued to transmit locational data for several days.

“There needs to be greater transparency because there are too many elements to the carefully stage-managed narrative which do not stack up despite its presentation as a fait accompli.

“If, by releasing this evidence, in full, to Police Scotland, it helps to bring this to a successful conclusion or prosecution, then the SGA and others would be satisfied that justice, as we have come to expect justice to look like, will have run its course.

“In the meantime, serious allegations have been made against a community of people on the basis of a running commentary of media speculation, implication and suggestion which makes a laughing stock of what looks to be a live investigation.”

ENDS

We have provided a response to media enquiries, reproduced in full here:

“The circumstances of Fred’s disappearance are highly suspicious and fit with the findings of the Scottish Government’s recent review of the fates of satellite-tagged golden eagles in Scotland, which demonstrated that almost one third of tagged golden eagles have disappeared without trace in areas managed for driven grouse shooting.

Since our initial press release, we have obtained further information from Fred’s tag which corroborate our earlier suspicions that Fred is a victim of illegal persecution. Far from “walking away”, as the SGA claims, this new information has been passed to the police for investigation so we cannot comment further at this stage.

It’s laughable that the SGA is complaining about ‘trial by media’ when one of its own Directors has been using social media to smear and discredit the conservationists involved in this project, suggesting we’ve fabricated the whole story. If the SGA used its time and resources more productively to root out the criminals within the game-shooting industry, eagles like Fred would stand a much better chance of survival“.

ENDS

Meanwhile, we’re still waiting to hear from the SGA whether Scottish gamekeeper Alan Wilson, who was recently convicted of animal cruelty, was a member of the SGA at the time he committed his crime and if so, whether he has now been expelled. Strangely, the SGA has not yet commented.

Emails to: info@scottishgamekeepers.co.uk