Tag: golden eagle

Laughable ‘critique’ of golden eagle satellite tag review

As many of you will know, in August 2016 Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham ordered a review of golden eagle satellite tag data to see whether there was evidence of “a pattern of suspicious activity” regarding the regular disappearance of sat-tagged golden eagles in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned the review, which was published in May 2017. The findings were unequivocal – YES, there was a pattern of suspicious activity and a strong association between ‘disappearing’ eagles and some areas of land managed as driven grouse moors.

[Red stars show position of sat-tagged golden eagles that have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances, 2004-2016. Note the clusters in areas of grouse moor management around the Cairngorms National Park. Data from the golden eagle sat tag review]

The review was significant in that it led to Roseanna Cunningham announcing a series of further measures to tackle illegal raptor persecution on driven grouse moors, not least the establishment of a review group to consider licensing options for grouse moor management.

Obviously, the significance of the review wasn’t lost on some within the grouse-shooting industry and for the last ten months there have been concerted efforts on social media to discredit (a) the report’s findings and (b) the report’s authors.

None of these efforts have amounted to anything – just wild accusations (many of them libellous) and uninformed commentary from those who don’t like the idea of the potential introduction of any sort of regulation or accountability of the grouse-shooting industry. Let’s call them Honorary Professors of Idiocy at the Angus Glens Institute for Critical Thinking.

Some quotes from these esteemed Honorary Professors of Idiocy include statements such as [The report would] “never stand up to scientific scrutiny and would clearly fail in any peer-reviewed process due to extremely poor science, multiple assumptions and total lack of robustness” (Mike Groves, expelled member of Tayside Raptor Study Group, scientific credentials unknown); The authors are “incompetent” and “not independent” (Bert Burnett, Director [resigned] of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, scientific credentials unknown); and the report authors are “bent” (Andy Richardson, social media troll, scientific credentials unknown).

To offset the Honorary Professors’ obvious lack of scientific credibility, the Angus Glens Institute for Critical Thinking has recently invited a ‘proper scientist’ to critique the golden eagle satellite tag review.

Who is this proper scientist? A young man called Ben Adam (BSc, Physics), who apparently works as a Revenue Officer for HM Revenue & Customs. And in which learned academic journal was his ‘scientific critique’ published? Er, that’ll be on his Dad’s blog. And who’s his Dad? That’ll be David Adam, an artist from the Angus Glens, mates with Mike Groves (see above), and who spends a lot of time and effort slagging off members of the Scottish Raptor Study Group and slagging off the practice of satellite tracking raptors for scientific research.

Ben Adam’s (BSc, Physics) ‘critique’ has been hailed by those within the Angus Glens Institute for Critical Thinking as a comprehensive demolition of the golden eagle satellite tag review, and they’re hoping lots of politicians take note of it. We’re also hoping lots of politicians take note of it because it lays bare the laughable standard of defence against the damning findings of the golden eagle satellite tag review.

Before we analyse Ben Adam’s (BSc, Physics) ‘critique’, it’s probably worth pointing out the scientific credibility of the authors of the golden eagle satellite tag review, Dr Phil Whitfield and Dr Alan Fielding.

Between them, they have over 70 years worth of ecological experience, have published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers, written hundreds of commissioned reports, and authored five books, including one on statistical analysis (authored by Dr Fielding, a lecturer on statistics at Manchester Metropolitan University). For good reason, they are held in extremely high regard within the academic and conservation communities and have a particular expertise on the ecology and conservation of hen harriers and golden eagles, having co-authored the respective Government-commissioned Conservation Frameworks for these species. It’s quite obvious why SNH commissioned them to undertake the golden eagle satellite tag review; they were the best qualified scientists to do this research.

So, let’s have a look at Ben Adam’s (BSc, Physics) masterful ‘critique’, amounting to six paragraphs published on his Dad’s blog:

Gosh, where to start. How about with the most glaring error? Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) claims the statistical analyses are flawed because the sample size was too low. He seems to think that the ‘sample’ used in this study was the number of satellite-tagged eagles (n = 135) and argues that had the sample size been higher (“300-500“), a “much more useful analysis could be done“. Had he been paying attention and actually read and understood the report, he should have realised that the ‘sample’ in this study was NOT the number of satellite-tagged eagles, but rather the recorded locations of those satellite-tags (n = over half a million)! It’s not rocket science, or even physics. The statistical analyses were undertaken on the tag data, not on the eagles, and most scientists would conclude that a sample size of over half a million is, er, exceptionally good.

Even if the analysis was based on the number of tagged eagles (which it wasn’t), Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) seems to have missed the section detailing the analyses done on identical tag types deployed on golden eagles in the US, Sweden and Norway (n = 784) and on bald eagles in the US (n = 83). Guess what, Mr Adam (BSc, Physics)? Of a study of 869 tags (+131 Scottish tags = 1000 tags in total), the tags deployed on golden eagles in Scotland were 25 times more likely to suffer a Stopped-no malfunction fate than any of those other comparable studies. Imagine that!

Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) claims there are clear relationships between the Stopped-no malfunction category and the type of tag used and the operator who fitted the tag. He also claims the data sets “don’t tell us which operator used which type of tag“. Er, try looking at Table 2.2 which details the tag type and the operator. In fact, try reading the report again, which explains that “there were several people involved in the tagging of eagles in Scotland, and potentially suspicious (Stopped-no malfunction) fates were not apparently due to particular operators (or, by proxy, teams of taggers), or to particular tag types“.

Disappointingly, Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) didn’t offer up any explanation for the following part of the report:

“Conservatively in these analyses, we did not include a ‘dropped suspicious’ tag fate as evidence of a killed bird, even though this record involved the discovery of an abandoned ‘dropped’ tag whose housing had been stabbed by a sharp implement and whose harness had been cut cleanly by a sharp instrument“.

It’s a shame Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) overlooked this statement as this particular tag was found in, er, the Angus Glens.

Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) argues that the review “made no indepth analysis of each tag type in detail“. Er, try reading section 6, ‘Tag Reliability’, for the detailed independent checks of tag engineering, including manufacturer ‘blind’ tests.

Mr Adam (BSc, Physics) claims the study is “incomplete and extremely limited in scope” and “does not show critical thinking or scientific method where it is truly required“. Er, this report is one of the most comprehensive, robust and forensic analyses ever undertaken on golden eagle satellite tag data. Multiple lines of evidence were used to conclude the spatial clustering was indeed suspicious. Indeed, on the spatial clustering alone, the report states: “Ten analyses were conducted, examining various alternative potential datasets to ensure that the results were robust“.

To conclude, Mr Adam’s (BSc, Physics) ‘critique’ is laughable and lamentable. It probably explains why SNH didn’t ask a Revenue Officer at HM Revenue & Customs with a BSc in Physics to peer review the report (yes, take note Honorary Professor of Idiocy Mike Groves, this report was indeed peer-reviewed as part of SNH’s quality assurance process).

Who were the peer-reviewers? Actual real life professors, as listed in the report:

Professor Ian Newton FRS, FRSE, Professor Miguel Ferrer, Professor Robert Furness, Professor Des Thompson FRSE.

Enough said.

New information reveals more about Golden Eagle Fred’s suspicious disappearance

RPUK/Chris Packham press release:

NEW INFORMATION REVEALS MORE ABOUT GOLDEN EAGLE FRED’S SUSPICIOUS DISAPPEARANCE

On 21st January, a GPS satellite tag fitted to a young golden eagle called Fred suddenly and inexplicably stopped sending data close to a grouse moor in the Pentland Hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Up until that point the tag had been working perfectly and was providing accurate and frequent location information about Fred’s travels.

Photo of Fred by Ruth Tingay:

Strangely, three and half days later, the tag began to transmit again for a short period, but astonishingly, it was in the North Sea, 15 miles offshore from St Andrews. No further GPS data have been received.

Map showing Fred’s movements in the Pentland Hills and the last known position of his tag in the North Sea:

The researchers who had been tracking Fred’s movements (Dr Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK and broadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham) alerted experts at RSPB Scotland who immediately notified Police Scotland who began an investigation into Fred’s suspicious disappearance.

The analysis of new technical data, provided by the tag manufacturer, has now shed some light on the approximate location of Fred’s tag during those three and a half days of lost GPS transmissions.

Although the tag’s GPS transmissions were suppressed, the tag’s technical data, which includes time & date, shows that the tag was still functioning and was periodically communicating briefly with a series of mobile phone masts closest to the tag’s then location. These data, that gave locational information for the phone masts, suggest that in the days after Fred’s disappearance his tag moved eastwards away from the Pentlands, along a route similar to that of the Edinburgh City Bypass and subsequently the A1 towards Haddington, before it travelled to the North Berwick area on the East Lothian coast. From there, it is likely that the tag went into the sea as the data then show that the tag began to connect with phone masts along the Fife coast, across the Firth of Forth. Later, the tag was then able, briefly, to resume giving locational GPS transmissions, but by then it was well offshore.

Map showing the phone masts (red dots) with which Fred’s tag was communicating between 21-25 January 2018. The green dot shows the final known GPS position of the tag on 25th Jan. (Map: RPUK)

Dr Tingay said: “That someone might have been travelling around the Edinburgh City Bypass with a dead golden eagle in the boot of a vehicle is sickening.

These new tags we’re using to track golden eagles like Fred offer a highly sophisticated technical opportunity, not just to learn about the eagles’ movements when they’re alive but also, it seems, an insight in to the lengths someone will go to try and remove evidence to cover their crime”.

Chris Packham said: “We don’t know whether this tag was still attached to Fred as it travelled across East Lothian and in to the North Sea but we do know that the tag’s movements are a clear indication of foul play.

Whether it was an amateurish attempt to mask the illegal killing of Fred in the Pentlands by dumping the tag, and possibly Fred, in the North Sea to make it look like he had drowned, we’ll never know. We do know that, once again, we’ve lost a young golden eagle in the vicinity of a grouse moor and nobody will be held to account.

The Scottish Government needs to do more, immediately, to protect Scotland’s birds of prey. It’s crystal clear that raptors continue to be killed and the criminals responsible think they are untouchable”.

Ian Thomson, Head of Investigations at RSPB Scotland said: “This new information makes the probability of Fred’s death being a wildlife crime even more likely.

The continued denials of any suspicion around the case, and attempts at coming up with elaborate alternative versions of events, have been identical to those in virtually every other case where a satellite-tagged raptor has disappeared.

It is a great shame that some representatives of the gamebird shooting industry, who profess to be “true conservationists” and “guardians of the countryside”, are the same individuals who seek more to shoot the messenger than to face up to and marginalise the criminals who exist in plain sight in their community.”

Lothian MSP Andy Wightman said: “The evidence uncovered from Fred’s satellite tag is sufficient to convince me that he died in suspicious circumstances. Further details may never be known but it is beyond contempt that protected species such as Golden Eagles continue to be persecuted across Scotland.

I urge all those who use the Pentlands Regional Park on a regular basis to remain vigilant and am extremely grateful to Dr Ruth Tingay and Police Scotland for their diligence and perseverance in a very difficult case”.

Last year a Scottish Government-commissioned report showed that 41 of 131 satellite-tagged golden eagles had disappeared (presumed dead) in suspicious circumstances in Scotland, predominantly on or near to some driven grouse moors. In response to that report’s findings, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham MSP, ordered a review of grouse moor management practices with a view to introducing a licensing scheme for game-shooting estates.

Anyone with information about Fred’s disappearance is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101, or the RSPB’s confidential raptor crime hotline 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

We’ve produced a video about the location of Fred’s tag between 21-25 January:

The new information we’ve been able to retrieve from the tag (as discussed by Chris Packham in the video) deserves a little bit more explanation.

It’s important to understand that the new data do NOT provide detailed GPS locations of the tag – i.e. the new information only tells us which nearby phone mast the tag was communicating with, it does NOT tell us the exact position of the tag when it was ‘talking’ to the phone masts, as the tag’s GPS function was disabled (more on this below).

Nevertheless, the position of the phone masts and the times/dates the tag was communicating with them does show a very clear direction of travel from the Pentlands and out in to the North Sea. For investigative reasons, we are not yet revealing the times/dates those phone masts were ‘pinged’.

The disabling of the tag’s GPS function is interesting. It is surprisingly easy to suppress the tag’s GPS signal. For obvious reasons, we have no intention of providing a description of how to do that, but needless to say you don’t need a Faraday cage or indeed any specialist equipment to block the signal of this particular tag type.

That begs the question, was Fred’s tag deliberately disabled to hide the GPS data transmissions? Let’s assume for a minute that it was. Whoever did that, was smart enough to know how to suppress the GPS signal but not smart enough to know that the tag would still be trying to communicate with the nearest phone mast. Schoolboy error.

An alternative explanation is that the tag was not deliberately disabled at all. Whoever took that tag (and perhaps Fred’s corpse) from the Pentlands might just have been banking on the idea that the tag only sends data at set periods of time inbetween battery-charging periods (as with the Hen Harrier satellite tags), and so they may have thought they could get it to the coast and in to the sea without anybody who was monitoring the tag’s data knowing that something was wrong. They may have decided to dump the tag (and possibly Fred) in to the sea to make it look as though he flew out there of his own accord and simply drowned. Again, schoolboy error. We are not using the same type of tag as those used on Hen Harriers.

We know from reading various, frankly laughable, theories posted on social media over the last few weeks that the majority of commentators have no clue/understanding of (a) the type of tag we are using, (b) the tag’s capabilities, and (c) the high frequency rate that the tag was transmitting data, throughout every day and night.

We’ve released this new information about the route Fred’s tag took from the Pentland Hills to the North Sea in the hope that someone will come forward to help progress the police investigation into Fred’s highly suspicious disappearance. If you know anything, please contact Police Scotland on 101 or the RSPB’s confidential raptor crime hotline 0300 999 0101.

We’d like to put on record our immense gratitude to the two Police Wildlife Crime Officers who have been leading this case. They have gone way above and beyond what we expected them to do (and again, we are not detailing the specifics of their investigation) and they have impressed us with their diligence and professionalism. Many thanks to them for their efforts to date.

We are also grateful to the tag manufacturer and particularly the senior engineers for providing the additional technical data from Fred’s tag and helping us and the police with the analysis.

Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing condemns the criminals killing raptors on Scottish grouse moors

Last week we criticised Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing for his apparent failure to speak out on illegal raptor persecution, especially following the news that yet another satellite-tagged golden eagle had ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor within his constituency; a constituency that has been a hotbed of illegal raptor killing for many, many years.

For those of you not on Twitter, this afternoon Mr Ewing responded by publishing a series of tweets, condemning the continued illegal killing of raptors on Scottish grouse moors. We very much welcome his statement:

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: