Tag: white-tailed eagle

Joint satellite tagging project to see how White-tailed Eagles interact with livestock in western Scotland

Press release from NatureScot (17 July 2026)

Forty new satellite tags will soon track sea eagles in western Scotland to investigate how sea eagles and livestock interact

NatureScot has provided funding for the satellite tags for this collaborative research project, which brings together a broad team of experts to assess the extent of sea eagle predation of lambs and sheep. The transmitter tags are to improve understanding of the movement, behaviour of adult and juvenile sea eagles, as well as how they use and interact with the countryside.

White-tailed Eagle (photo by Pete Walkden)

The researchers will collate and analyse GPS (Global Positioning System) fix data received from the satellite tags to gather information on the ecology of Scotland’s sea eagle population.

Over the next two years, licenced ornithologists are fitting up to 35 satellite tags to sea eagle chicks when they are about eight weeks old. By then, the chicks are full-sized and getting ready to fledge from 10 weeks of age on. These tags –which can last for years—will give a unique insight into where the chicks travel after leaving their natal home range.

Target ranges for tagging will be within Argyll, Highlands, and the Western Isles.

The project also aims to deploy the remaining five tags on adult breeding sea eagles, which are more difficult to trap. Earlier this year, ornithologists using advice and techniques gained from European counterparts, trapped, tagged, and released an adult sea eagle on the Western Isles, boding well for success in this project. Farm managers who are comfortable hosting trapping work on their land may collaborate with this work.

The research project is a partnership between NatureScot, RSPB, Scotland’s Rural College SRUC, Natural Research Ltd, and a collective of independent ornithologists, which are sharing the costs of and resources for the project between them, with policy input from the NFU Scotland and the Scottish Crofting Federation. SRUC are also tracking lambs in Argyll using GPS neck collars as part of a separate research project. This research will complement and benefit the tagging project, giving a broad picture of how sea eagles and lambs interact. 

Humans persecuted sea eagles—Scotland’s largest bird of prey—to extinction by the early 20th century. Since their reintroduction initially on the Isle of Rum between 1975 and 1985, the birds—now protected by law—have successfully repopulated the west of Scotland, expanding their range in all directions and increasing impacts on upland and hill sheep flocks.

The research group will report periodically to the National Sea Eagle Stakeholder Group and NatureScot will provide further updates on its website.

NatureScot Senior Ornithologist Andrew Stevenson said:

“This project will greatly add to our understanding of how sea eagles move around and their interaction with livestock. A key gap in our knowledge is what role immature eagles play in predating livestock, given they wander widely during their first three to four years until they settle on a territory. Tagging is the best way to get a handle on what they may be doing. While this collaborative partnership began because of the need for more information about livestock predation, the tag data will also help us understand how eagles use habitat, as well as other topics such as interaction with wind farms“.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management RSPB-Scotland (and Research Group Chair), added:

“Gathering evidence on the behaviour and movements of sea eagles is essential to create common understanding, and to inform future conservation and land management decisions. Latest technology in the form of GPS trackers fitted to Sea eagles can help deliver such outcomes sitting also alongside other initiatives being taken forward by the National Sea Eagle Stakeholder Group. The collaborative partnership approach to this project involving NatureScot, expert researchers, farming representatives and conservationists is very welcome, and we hope to present the results in due course“.

Georgia Watson, NFUS Policy Manger – Climate, Land & Business, said:

“NFU Scotland supports this satellite tagging project as a vital step towards building a clear, shared evidence base on sea eagle behaviour. For farmers and crofters in affected areas, understanding when and where interactions with livestock occur is critical. This research must lead to practical, targeted management solutions that give farmers confidence that impacts on livestock are being properly recognised and addressed“.

Scottish Crofting Federation Chief Executive Donna Smith said:

“Crofters are reporting increased sightings and issues with sea eagles each year so this research is a very welcome development. Building a greater understanding of how the sea eagles are interacting with livestock will hopefully lead to improved targeting of management measures in the future. We therefore look forward to supporting the research in whatever way we can and to seeing the findings in due course“.

ENDS

Confirmation of further White-tailed Eagle poisonings in Dorset

Press release from Wildlife Poisoning Research UK (WPRUK), 22 July 2026:

CONFIRMATION OF FURTHER EAGLE POISONINGS IN DORSET

The white tailed sea eagle is one of England’s rarest and most impressive birds of prey, with a wing span often over 2 meters. A small group of these birds has been established by conservationists by re-introducing them onto the Isle of Wight from where they have spread out across England. However, this fragile population is under threat from a range of dangers, including poisoning from eating contaminated food such as poisoned rats. Nature lovers were outraged when one of the eagles was killed by poison in Dorset in 2022.    

White-tailed Eagle (photo by Ronnie Gilbert)

An investigation by the wildlife group WPRUK has now shown that at least two further sea eagles were poisoned in Dorset in 2024, although many details of these incidents have been kept secret by the Government. The toxins involved are called Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) – frequently used to kill rats by farmers, gamekeepers, pest controllers and householders.  These were the same poisons that killed the eagle in 2022.

One eagle was originally recorded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as having died by electrocution in November 2024. However, from WPRUK’s attempts to establish the truth using Freedom of Information requests, it was confirmed by the Government agency, Natural England, that: ‘the high concentrations of second generation anti-coagulants reported in this eagle were of sufficient concern to justify further investigation.’ However, the HSE initially claimed that only background levels of these poisons were found in the liver.    

Large residues of SGARs were found in the liver of a second sea eagle found dead in May 2024, which are believed to have been partly responsible for the bird’s death.

SGAR toxins start to have a lethal impact on sea eagles when levels reach above 0.1 mg/kg of the poison in the liver. WPRUK have established that the poison levels in the two 2024 eagles were far higher. The bird found in November had a toxin level of 0.194 mg/kg, while the one discovered in May had a staggering 0.43 mg/kg. Despite these incidents happening many months ago, Government agencies are still withholding the full details of the bird deaths. What are they so scared of? Two further eagles have now died in Dorset, one in March 2025 and one in March 2026.  The full report for the bird that died in 2025 is also being withheld, although WPRUK has established that this too was exposed to SGAR poisons.

Is Government policy to blame for these eagle poisonings?

The dangers of these toxins have been known for many years and an environmental risk assessment in 2012 recommended that they should not be used outdoors due to the secondary poisoning risk – this is when the poisons move up the food chain. Poisons put out for mice and rats end up killing the top predators such as eagles. However, this risk assessment was ignored by the Government which permitted their continued use and even relaxed the regulations controlling where the higher toxicity poisons such as Brodifacoum could be used. This allowed the use of this poison outdoors for the first time, much to the alarm of wildlife experts.

The continued outdoor use of SGARs was on the condition that the chemical industry, by introducing better working practices by users, achieved a ‘significant reduction’ in the level of SGAR exposure in wildlife. This was part of the Government’s approved Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme.

WPRUK has been collecting data on SGAR exposure in buzzards in England and Wales to see if this ‘significant reduction’ has actually occurred. 

So, what has happened?

The chemical industry’s attempts to reduce toxin exposure has been a complete failure. If two time periods, 2005 to 2013 and 2020 to 2024 are compared, it is found that:

  • The proportion of buzzards exposed to potentially lethal amounts of SGAR toxin (above 0.1 mg/kg in the liver) had increased from 15.1 % to 42.3 %.
  • The mean level of SGAR in the liver had increased 230 %.
  • It is clear that this increase in SGAR exposure in buzzards was due to a substantial rise in exposure of the birds to the highly toxic Brodifacoum, likely to be the result of the Government’s decision to permit the outdoor use of this highly toxic poison. Exposure to this high toxicity poison has increased by 1,026 %!

Commenting on the poison levels found in these eagles, Dr Ed Blane from WPRUK said:

“The death of these majestic birds in Dorset, and the high amounts of poison found in their livers, should cause alarm bells to start ringing across the country.  What we see now is the total failure of Government approved policy meant to protect the environment, information being withheld and our wildlife paying the price. At the same time chemical companies are making profits from selling these poisons. We have Channel 4’s ‘Dirty Business’ meeting Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’!

“What is of particular concern are the plans to introduce eagles to other areas of England and Wales without addressing this growing poisoning issue. How many of these birds will suffer a similar fate as the Dorset eagles?“. 

ENDS

ITV News highlights raptor persecution in North Yorkshire & arguments for & against gamebird shoot licensing

ITV News ran a five minute feature yesterday on the continued illegal killing of birds of prey in North Yorkshire, and the RSPB’s calls for a gamebird shooting licensing scheme to tackle these crimes.

The film highlights the recent convictions earlier this year of gamekeeper Thomas Munday, who was caught battering to death a Buzzard that he’d trapped on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham (here), and gamekeeper Racster Dingwall, who was caught conspiring to shoot a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Both cases relied on video footage captured on hidden cameras installed on the estates by the RSPB’s Investigations Team.

Two members of the RSPB’s Investigations Team are interviewed (Mark Thomas and Howard Jones) and discuss how satellite tags have helped detect the locations where Hen Harriers are being killed, and the level of ongoing threat to this and other species, including White-tailed Eagles.

A counter-argument against gamebird shoot licensing is provided by Dr Marnie Lovejoy from the British Association of Shooting & Conservation (BASC). She admits that grouse shoot licensing in Scotland has not prevented the illegal killing of raptors (she’s right about that) but then claims, counter-intuitively, that licensing wouldn’t be a deterrent because, “They could lose their licence even though they have done nothing wrong“.

I’m not aware of any grouse shooting estate in Scotland losing its licence yet, even though there have been multiple raptor persecution crimes detected since licensing was introduced in 2024, although several cases are still making their way through the slow judicial process.

Nor has anyone had their grouse shooting licence revoked ‘when they’ve done nothing wrong’. Given the level of evidence required just for a General Licence restriction in Scotland, let alone a grouse shooting licence, it is highly unlikely that an innocent estate would ever be penalised. And even if it did happen, estates have several rights of appeal, first through the regulator, NatureScot, and then through the Sheriff Courts.

It’s clear that BASC doesn’t want further regulation, perhaps because it’s obvious that many gamebird shoots will struggle to comply, but using an unevidenced argument against it just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

You can watch the ITV News feature here.

Another young satellite-tagged Golden Eagle from south Scotland translocation project found injured with 17 shotgun pellets embedded in wings & body

Press release from Police Scotland (26 June 2026), followed by my commentary:

POLICE APPEAL AFTER SQUEAGLE THE GOLDEN EAGLE FOUND WITH SHOTGUN INJURIES

Police Scotland is appealing for information after a golden eagle was found to have been shot.

Squeagle, a four-year-old female golden eagle, was moved from the Outer Hebrides to the Lammermuir Hills in the Scottish Borders in February 2026 as part of a translocation project run by Restoring Upland Nature (RUN). She is fitted with a satellite tag which allows her movements to be monitored.

Low resolution map showing Squeagle’s satellite tracking data from Feb – May 2026.
Image from Restoring Upland Nature (RUN)

After her release, Squeagle travelled through parts of northern England, including Northumberland, the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. A photograph taken in Northumberland on Monday, 4 May, 2026, showed significant damage to her wing feathers.

Squeagle photographed in Northumberland on 4 May 2026 with extensive feather damage (photo via RUN)

On Monday, 1 June, 2026, gamekeepers on an estate in the Lammermuirs became concerned after noticing the bird behaving unusually and contacted RUN. Squeagle was collected and taken to the Scottish SPCA’s National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross for assessment.

Scans and treatment revealed she had been shot and had at least 17 shotgun pellets lodged in her body and wings. Experts believe the injuries were not recent, as the wounds had already healed.

Detective Sergeant David Lynn, National Wildlife Crime Coordinator said:

“This was a serious attack on a protected bird of prey which I utterly condemn. Thanks to the quick actions of those who reported concerns, the golden eagle was able to receive specialist treatment and has since been returned to the wild. We are working with partners across Scotland and northern England to establish where and when she was shot.

“Following treatment by veterinary specialists at the Scottish SPCA, Squeagle was released back into the wild on Saturday, 6 June, 2026. Her condition will continue to be monitored through observations and detailed analysis of satellite tracking.

“Enquiries remain ongoing, and we are working alongside our colleagues in Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, supported by the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit to establish who was responsible“.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland, quoting incident number 1361 of 5 June 2026.

ENDS

Squeagle being released in south Scotland February 2026 after translocation from the Western Isles (photo by John Wright)

My commentary:

First of all, plaudits to all those involved with the recovery of this injured eagle and her subsequent release back to the wild – the gamekeepers who found her and chose to raise the alarm instead of their guns, RUN staff for a quick response and rescue, and the SSPCA staff who provided urgent and expert veterinary care and rehabilitation.

Plaudits also to Police Scotland for a fairly fast and detailed press release.

What struck me most about this latest persecution incident is that this Golden Eagle had survived for four-years in the relatively persecution-free Uists, but within three months of being translocated and released in south Scotland, and venturing into northern England, someone had shot her, presumably with the intention of killing her.

This happened just a few short months after another young translocated Golden Eagle, ‘Hamlet’, was found with shotgun injuries on a grouse moor in the Scottish Borders in January this year (see here).

These crimes, along with the shooting of Golden Eagle Merrick in the Moorfoot Hills in 2023 (here), the suspicious disappearances of Golden Eagles Tarras and Wren in the Langholm area in 2025 (here), the suspicious disappearance of a White-tailed Eagle in the Moorfoot Hills in 2025 (here), and the suspicious disappearance of White-tailed Eagle G834 in the North York Moors National Park in 2026 (here) are a stark reminder of the difficulties faced by those trying to re-establish eagle populations in the region, against a residual Victorian culture of zero tolerance for raptors on large areas of land that is managed for gamebird shooting.

The police and others are undertaking a detailed analysis of Squeagle’s satellite tracking data to try and pinpoint the location where she was shot, which looks likely to have been somewhere in northern England. I don’t doubt that they’ll be able to find it, given the quality and accuracy of the tag data available to them, but even if they can determine the location, it won’t result in a prosecution / conviction, or indeed any sanction, because unlike in Scotland, General Licence restrictions and/or grouse shoot licence revocations are not available in England.

So for those who continue to target these eagles, and other raptors, especially Hen Harriers, the risk of getting caught is almost negligible so in their minds it’s still worth committing the offence.

The RSPB and some others will argue that gamebird licensing is the way ahead, so that licences can be revoked where offences have been detected, providing at least some sort of sanction against those who continue to think the law doesn’t apply to them. There’s some merit in that argument, although personally I see licensing as only a step in the right direction and we’re still to see any licence revocations in Scotland, despite multiple raptor persecution offences taking place since licensing was introduced two years ago.

I’d like to see the Westminster Government put up funding to establish a national, multi-agency response unit to investigate raptor persecution crimes, and all other crimes that are listed as National Wildlife Crime priorities. It’s all very well putting up £1 million to explore the re-establishment of Golden Eagles in northern England (see here), but without also investing in wildlife crime enforcement capabilities, many eagles that are translocated are simply going to be shot, or trapped, or poisoned, or bludgeoned to death, with zero consequences for the offenders, just as they have been for the last 70+ years.

Golden Eagle dies of natural causes – gamekeepers seem to want credit for not killing it

I received a bizarre press release on Monday, issued by the charity, Restoring Upland Nature (RUN – a project developed from the South Scotland Golden Eagle Project).

The press release was providing ‘news’ of a young satellite-tagged Golden Eagle named Percy, who had suffered fatal injuries after a dispute with a territorial pair of Golden Eagles in south Scotland in late March 2026.

Golden Eagle Percy. Photo by John Wright

His death was due to natural causes, so not exactly ‘news’, although it’s understandable that the project team would want to keep people informed.

However, the press release then morphed in to some kind of gamekeeper love-fest, simply because some gamekeepers had found the critically injured eagle and had alerted the project team to his location.

Here’s the press release:

Whilst the actions of those gamekeepers who found Percy are to be applauded, the subsequent general portrayal of gamekeepers in south Scotland as being champions of eagle conservation needs a reality check, especially when you consider the recent surge in eagle persecution in this region:

  • Golden Eagle ‘Merrick’ was shot and killed whilst she was sleeping in a tree next to a grouse moor in the Moorfoot Hills in October 2023 (see here).
  • Golden Eagles ‘Tarras’ and ‘Wren’ disappeared in an area managed for gamebird shooting near Langholm in August 2025 (see here).
  • A White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoot Hills area in November 2025 (here).
  • Golden Eagle ‘Hamlet’ was found with shotgun injuries next to a grouse moor in the Tweed Valley in February 2026 (here).

It is clear from the post-mortem and his satellite tag data that Percy died from injuries inflicted by a territorial eagle and not at the hands of a gamekeeper. Perhaps that’s the newsworthy element of this story.

But I’m very interested in other cases where injured/dead raptors have been ‘found’ by gamekeepers and reported to the authorities, especially in areas with a long history of raptor persecution. It seems to me that this could create a perfect opportunity for the ‘false hero’ scenario.

Undoubtedly, there are decent gamekeepers out there who want to help with conservation efforts for raptors and other species. But equally undoubtedly, there are gamekeepers out there who want to kill raptors, and have done, and continue to do so.

How do you tell them apart?

By the way, in response to the ‘news’ that Percy died of natural causes, I’ve seen a few comments on social media suggesting that we should all apologise for blaming gamekeepers for his ‘disappearance’. For the record, Percy didn’t ‘disappear’, and I haven’t seen anybody suggesting that he did, or that gamekeepers were responsible. They used the same argument about Hen Harrier ‘Frank’ earlier this year – trying to play the victim card but without any evidence of being victimised.

Satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ on Snilesworth Estate, North York Moors National Park

Further to the news earlier this week that a young satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle (known as G834) had ‘disappeared’ on 1st May in what the police describe as suspicious circumstances, on a grouse-shooting estate in the North York Moors National Park (see here), one of five satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagles to have vanished in recent months (here), it has now been revealed that his last known location was on the Snilesworth Estate.

This news didn’t come from the appeal for information issued by North Yorkshire Police last Monday – that vague appeal just gave the location as, ‘the western side of the North York Moors‘. Instead, the information has come from a lengthy feature article in this morning’s Guardian newspaper, written by Chief Reporter Daniel Boffey.

Photos by Ruth Tingay

Daniel Boffey visited the estate this week and was given short shrift by gamekeeper Charles Woof, who, when asked about the missing eagle, reportedly said:

“I don’t know anything about it” and “It’s private property, I am going to have to ask you to leave“.

The article refers to Woof’s 2008 conviction, where he admitted to using a baited trap to catch birds of prey. That’s interesting. I thought the shooting industry claimed to have a zero tolerance policy to raptor persecution and that anyone convicted would be kicked out of the profession? Apparently not.

Mark Thomas, Head of the RSPB’s Investigations Team is also quoted in the article, having been asked for his opinion about what might have happened to White-tailed Eagle G834:

“I think something has happened in the middle of the night whilst this eagle was at roost. Now, these things don’t fly around in the dark. They will wait till first light.

“If you’re asking me to look at the probability … it’s most likely the bird has been shot. And if the bird is shot whilst it’s roosting, then it’s being shot at night, potentially with thermal imaging gear“.

The article also reports that ‘Snilesworth estate management declined to comment‘. I don’t know who manages the estate these days but for many years it was managed by ‘grouse guru’ Mark Osborne’s company, starting in 2000, according to an earlier version of the company’s website:

One of Osborne’s other companies, William Powell Sporting, currently sells shooting days (Grouse, Pheasant & Red-legged Partridge) at Snilesworth:

Here is a review from one happy Snilesworth customer, featured on a William Powell Sporting publicity brochure:

Photo by Ruth Tingay

The Guardian article is careful to emphasise that there is nothing to suggest that gamekeeper Mr Woof or his team may have been involved in the eagle’s disappearance. Boffey writes:

‘The range of possible suspects is huge, including local farmers and others connected to nearby grouse lands, of which there are many‘.

The article also mentions that on the day the Guardian reporter visited, Mr Woof was ‘busy preparing for a charity clay pigeon shoot‘.

That’ll be this one, happening today, organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).

Hopefully the charity shoot guests won’t be causing any disturbance to the local wildlife as they shoot their way around the six clay pigeon stands across the estate and they can keep an eye out for the missing eagle…

More news on the satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle that ‘disappeared’ on a grouse shooting estate in the North York Moors National Park

On Monday the news broke that a young satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle had ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse shooting estate in the North York Moors National Park (see here).

I was critical of the vague appeal for information issued by North Yorkshire Police and said I would write more about the details that hadn’t been included in that appeal.

However, since then, there has been a new development. I can’t explain any further at the moment but all will become apparent in due course. For this reason, I’ve decided not to add any of the missing details, at least not just yet. If the new development doesn’t progress as I expect it to, then I will come back to this news story.

Meanwhile, it’s worth talking about G834, the eagle at the centre of the police investigation, and placing his suspicious disappearance in to wider context.

White-tailed Eagle G834, prior to fledging, after being ringed and fitted with its satellite tag (photo by Tim Mackrill, Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation)

G834 hatched in Dorset in 2025, the first wild-fledged White-tailed Eagle in that county for over 240 years (see here).

His parents first paired up in 2023 after being released in 2020 as part of the Isle of Wight Reintroduction Project, led by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England.

G834 was the product of their first successful breeding attempt, and brought the number of wild-fledged WTEs in England up to six since the project began (one chick in Sussex in 2023, two chicks in Sussex in 2024, and two chicks in Sussex and one chick in Dorset in 2025).

He was the star of the show at Poole Harbour at the beginning of this year, where 30 young members of the Young Birders’ Club, an initiative set up by the brilliant charity, Birds of Poole Harbour, were able to watch him feeding in the harbour. The significance of this sighting was summed up by Birds of Poole Harbour Project organiser, Sam Ryde:

“This was such an important and historical moment. To be able to show a group of young conservationists a wild born White-tailed Eagle right here in Dorset is beyond special. Not only that, to be able to explain to them how these projects work, why it’s important and actually show them the outcome is what it’s all about. These reintroduction projects change the baseline for what’s considered ‘normal’ in these landscapes. For many people here in Dorset and Poole Harbour White-tailed Eagles are a new-comer due to the fate they suffered all those years ago. However, kids will now grow up in Dorset with White-tailed Eagles having always been a part of their local heritage, which they’ll want to continue to protect and conserve”.

Three months later, G834 made the fatal mistake of visiting a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park where, only a few hours after arriving, his satellite tag stopped transmitting whilst he was roosting nearby overnight and he hasn’t been seen since.

The circumstances remind me of the fate of the young Golden Eagle called Merrick, believed to have been shot, killed and removed overnight from a roost site in the Moorfoot Hills, south Scotland, in October 2023.

G834 is the fifth satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle to have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in the last year. Here are the others:

  • In May 2025, a young satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire, Scotland (see here).
  • On 13 September 2025, the satellite tag belonging to White-tailed Eagle G615 was found on remote moorland in mid-Wales. Dyfed Powys Police stated the tag had been removed with a sharp instrument before being hidden in an attempt to dispose of it. Searches in the area to try and locate the body of the bird have so far been unsuccessful (see here).
  • On 26 September 2025, a satellite tag belonging to young White-tailed Eagle G842 was recovered from the River Rother, near Petersfield, Sussex. It had been removed from the bird using a sharp instrument. Searches in the area to try and locate the body of the bird have so far been unsuccessful (see here).
  • On 8 November 2025, a four-year-old satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle (G819) ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoot Hills, south Scotland (see here).

I mentioned earlier that in 2025, three young White-tailed Eagles fledged in the wild (two in Sussex and one in Dorset). Two of those three birds are now ‘missing’ – one (G842) had its tag cut off that was subsequently thrown into a river, and the other one’s tag (G834) has stopped transmitting in suspicious circumstances and the bird hasn’t been seen since.

Two out of three. That’s disgraceful.

And given how long these birds take to mature before they’re old enough to breed (anywhere between 3-7 yrs), and how low their productivity is when they do breed (1-3 chicks per year), it’s no wonder that the project team is planning to release more eagles this year, on both the Isle of Wight and on Exmoor. Given the natural attrition rate (e.g. disease, accidental collision etc), and then illegal persecution on top of that, this population is going to need the release of many more eagles before it becomes sustainable.

UPDATE 6 June 2026: Satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ on Snilesworth Estate, North York Moors National Park (here)

Young White-tailed Eagle ‘disappears’ from grouse shooting estate in North York Moors National Park

Press statement from North Yorkshire Police (1st June 2026):

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY AFTER DISAPPEARANCE OF EAGLE

We are appealing for information after the disappearance of a white-tailed eagle.

The satellite-tagged juvenile white-tailed eagle (G834) was born in the wild in Dorset in 2025 and travelled widely across England this spring. On 30 April 2026, it arrived in the western side of the North York Moors.

Overnight into 1 May, the tag device did not communicate. There have been no further transmissions since then.

Following analysis by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the eagle’s disappearance is being treated as suspicious, and an investigation is underway by North Yorkshire Police.

Anyone with any information is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference 12260086274.

ENDS

Young White-tailed Eagle (not the one that’s vanished). Photo by Pete Walkden

This press statement from North Yorkshire Police couldn’t be more vague.

Given the location, and the details of this young eagle’s final hours (as revealed by its satellite tag), there’s an awful lot of information that’s missing from this appeal.

I’ll be writing more about it shortly…

UPDATE 3 June 2026: More news on the satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle that ‘disappeared’ on a grouse shooting estate in the North York Moors National Park (here)

UPDATE 6 June 2026: Satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ on Snilesworth Estate, North York Moors National Park (here)

Statement from Natural England on decision to licence release of White-tailed Eagles in Exmoor National Park

Following the news that White-tailed Eagles will be released in Exmoor National Park later this year (see here), Natural England has published a blog to outline its ‘role in assessing the licensing application, how potential risks, including concerns from the farming sector, were carefully considered, and why Exmoor has been chosen as the next release site‘.

White-tailed Eagle. Photo by Pete Walkden

Natural England’s blog can be found on its website (here), but is reproduced below in case it ‘disappears’. I’ll add some commentary underneath it.

SUPPORTING THE RETURN OF WHITE-TAILED EAGLES TO EXMOOR

Natural England blog written by Roxanne Gardiner, Senior Officer, Natural England Wildlife Licensing Service and Olivia Beatty, Higher Officer, Wessex Area Team.

Natural England has issued a licence enabling the next phase of white-tailed eagle reintroductions in southern England, permitting the release of up to 20 birds in Exmoor National Park over three years. In this blog, Senior Officer Roxanne Gardiner and Higher Officer Olivia Beatty explain Natural England’s role in assessing the application, how potential risks, including concerns from the farming sector, were carefully considered, and why Exmoor has been chosen as the next release site.

Natural England has joined Forestry England, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Exmoor National Park Authority in announcing the exciting next steps in reintroducing white‑tailed eagles to southern England.

Natural England has issued the licence that enables this next phase of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation- and Forestry England led project to move forward.  The licence permits the release of up to 20 white‑tailed eagles in Exmoor National Park over three years, and sits alongside the existing licence for the successful Isle of Wight project, which has resulted in the first breeding white tailed eagles in England for 240 years.

White‑tailed eagles are our largest native bird of prey. Once widespread throughout England’s coasts and wetlands, they were lost due to human persecution. Their return in recent years is a powerful symbol of nature recovery that has captured the public imagination; and shown how ambitious but well‑planned conservation projects can help restore nature.

As top predators and scavengers, white tailed eagles help to balance the ecology of our landscapes, regulating prey populations, recycling nutrients and driving higher biodiversity. By harassing and controlling intermediate predators like buzzards and magpies, they also help protect smaller birds and mammals from over-predation. On the Isle of Wight, there is already evidence that more lapwing chicks are fledging as a result.

The selection of Exmoor as a new release site reflects the wider shared ambitions that Natural England and Exmoor National Park Authority have long been working towards – a landscape where nature is recovering at scale. Detailed feasibility studies have been led by the Project and historical records confirm that white‑tailed eagles once bred along the Exmoor coastline.

Tracking data from birds released on the Isle of Wight shows that several have already visited the Exmoor area. Exmoor’s mix of coastal, woodland and wetland habitats provide excellent conditions for the species as it continues to re‑establish in southern England.

Natural England’s role in enabling responsible reintroductions

Natural England’s role in this project is as the statutory wildlife licensing authority. Our responsibility is to assess applications for conservation translocations carefully and transparently, ensuring they meet the high standards set out in Defra’s Reintroductions and other conservation translocations: code and guidance for England.

Staff from Natural England’s Wildlife Licensing Service led the detailed, evidence‑led assessment of the application submitted by the Project. The assessment considered the contribution of the project nationally to white‑tailed eagle recovery.  We also considered:

  • The likely success of the project in terms of white-tailed eagle recovery
  • Experience of the project partners
  • Governance and long‑term funding arrangements
  • Disease and biosecurity risks
  • Ecological risks and opportunities
  • Socio‑economic risks and opportunities including the potential to affect farm businesses
  • Monitoring and management proposals

Natural England’s Wessex Area Team played a leading role in assessing the potential impacts of the Project on protected sites and led the Habitats Regulations Assessment. This work was done in collaboration with Natural England’s Chief Scientist Directorate, bringing together local knowledge and national scientific expertise.  They focused on how the released eagles are most likely to use the landscape.

Evidence shows that young birds may spend several years exploring areas across the UK and into northern Europe, but when they settle and establish breeding territories it is usually within 60km of the release site.  Basing the assessment on this well‑understood behaviour, the team was able to look carefully at realistic ways the released birds might interact with nearby protected sites and key species within those sites in the years following release.

We are aware that some stakeholders have raised concerns about the project, especially around livestock predation. Our team have joined meetings with farming sector representatives and read the local consultation responses. These concerns have been fully considered by both the project and Natural England. We understand that there are genuine fears but have also reflected on evidence from six years of monitoring the 45 birds released by the Isle of Wight project, and their offspring, which shows no recorded feeding on lambs or other livestock. These birds have only been observed to take natural prey, preferring fish and coastal birds, which is in line with comparable areas in Europe.

The project management plan and licence conditions include some key measures that we are confident should mitigate the concerns that have been raised:

  • There will be a project steering group that includes farming sector representatives.
  • There is a commitment to long‑term monitoring of the eagles’ activities, both through GPS tracking and through activity reporting forms.
  • The licence duration is for 11 years, by which time released birds will hopefully have settled and begun breeding.
  • There will be a communications plan and project officer, with the aim of raising awareness, supporting monitoring, and ensuring that emerging concerns are investigated and, where appropriate, addressed.
  • The project partners have shared a letter of commitment with farming sector representatives and the wider steering group, setting out that they will continue monitoring and engagement beyond the 11-year licence period.

In assessing the project, Natural England has taken a balanced and evidence‑led approach, applying the principles of the Code and Guidance in a way that supports ambition for nature recovery, while remaining proportionate, transparent and impartial, and consistent with our statutory duties. We hope this gives confidence that risks have been carefully considered and appropriately managed.

A flagship project for nature recovery

This project forms part of a wider effort to support the recovery of white‑tailed eagles across England, alongside projects and proposals in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Natural England continues to work closely with other regulators to share learning and promote best practice for responsible species reintroductions.

We are pleased to support this next phase of a landmark conservation programme and look forward to continuing to work with the project team as releases begin this summer. 

ENDS

My commentary:

Natural England’s decision to approve the licence application to release up to 20 White-tailed Eagles into Exmoor National Park over the next three years was always going to be an easy decision, to be honest.

The eagles are already there, albeit in small numbers, as can be seen in this map showing the widespread dispersal of 45 young satellite-tracked WTEs that have been released on the Isle of Wight since 2019 (map dated to January 2024, copyright Dr Tim Mackrill from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation):

It would be quite difficult, then, for Natural England to refuse the licence application, as the releases will simply be bolstering and speeding up the spread of the eagles into the south-west, their former, historical breeding range.

And every time I read anything from Natural England, or Defra, or the Government, about the ‘careful consideration of species conservation releases and their potential impacts’ I can’t help but laugh at the hypocrisy. Over 60 million non-native gamebirds (Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges) are released in to the UK countryside every year, for shooting, and nobody bats an eyelid (unless forced to after a successful legal challenge by Wild Justice).

Anyway… Natural England acknowledges the inevitable ‘concerns’ raised about the release of 20 White-tailed Eagles (note, twenty, not 60 million!) Those concerns are from the usual suspects, as shown quite neatly in this graphic produced in a briefing note in September 2025 by The Exmoor Society, a charity that undertook an ‘evidence review’ into species reintroduction programmes in Exmoor National Park, specifically focusing on the Pine Marten and the White-tailed Eagle:

I find it hard to comprehend how ‘threats to gamebirds’ and ‘livestock predation’ should ever be taken seriously when considering the restoration of native species to what is supposed to be a National Park. Regressive doesn’t even begin to describe it.

You can read the charity’s evidence review here:

Exmoor Society-Species-Reintroduction-Report Sept2025Download

Natural England’s blog focuses on addressing the concerns of the farming sector, whose representatives are predicting some kind of lamb-aggedon, but interestingly, there’s little, actually, no mention in Natural England’s blog of the perceived ‘threat’ to (non-native) gamebirds.

Some of you may remember nine years ago when Natural England and Defra were pushing the ridiculous notion of reintroducing Hen Harriers to southern England (a tactic many of us argued was simply a distraction technique to take the focus off the widespread illegal killing of this species on grouse moors in the north).

Exmoor National Park was identified as a potentially suitable location to release Hen Harriers, but Exmoor is infested with gamebird shoots and members of the gamebird shooting industry there were dead set against the release of Hen Harriers, because:

“The fears raised were that a reintroduction would lead to increased scrutiny of their legal activities and if the project was unsuccessful the shoots would be blamed” (see here).

As a result, Exmoor National Park was quietly dropped as a potential release location.

If those Exmoor gamebird shoots were fearful of Hen Harriers being released, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be thrilled at the prospect of White-tailed Eagles…

White-tailed Eagles to be released in Exmoor National Park this year

Press release from Forestry England and Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation (13 May 2026):

BOOST TO LANDMARK CONSERVATION PROJECT RETURNING WHITE-TAILED EAGLES TO ENGLAND

  • Additional releases to take place this summer in Exmoor National Park
  • Conservation project is returning iconic birds to the south of England

The return of Britain’s largest bird of prey, white-tailed eagles, to the South of England is to be boosted this year following approval today by Natural England, the Government’s wildlife licensing authority, for more of these iconic birds to be released.

White-tailed Eagle. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert

White-tailed eagles have a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres and were once widespread across England. Human persecution caused their extinction, with the last pair breeding in southern England in 1780.

The reintroduction project, led by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, will add to its existing programme of releases on the Isle of Wight which began in 2019 by working with Exmoor National Park Authority to release up to 20 young eagles from this additional location over the course of three years. Releases will take place at both locations this summer.

The additional releases will help to boost the number of birds already in the wild and expand their breeding range into South West England. Exmoor was chosen as an additional location after tracking data from the released birds showed the area had been frequently visited by several of them and provided suitable habitat. It is known that the species formerly bred along the Exmoor coastline.

To date, 45 young white-tailed eagles have been released from the project’s base on the Isle of Wight. Four pairs of birds have bonded and successfully formed territories along the south coast. The first pair to successfully breed did so in 2023, fledging the first chick to be born in the wild in England for over 240 years. Since then, a further 5 chicks have been born in the wild.

Also known as sea eagles, the species is typically found along coastlines and large bodies of open water.

Roy Dennis OBE, Founder of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said:

“White-tailed eagles were once a common sight in England but were lost centuries ago. This project is reversing that situation, and I am delighted that we will be able to release additional birds this year and boost their numbers in the wild.

“It is exciting to be able to play a part in restoring these birds back to their former home, and to see how well they are fitting into the English landscape. We will continue to work closely with a range of organisations as we enter this next phase of this exciting project“.

Stephen Egerton-Read, White-Tailed Eagle Project Manager, at Forestry England, said:

“Returning lost species like the white-tailed eagle is a key part of restoring biodiversity and supporting nature recovery.

“Seven years on from the start of this project these birds have begun to successfully return to the English landscape – forming pairs, establishing territories and breeding.

“Adding additional releases at Exmoor will help to boost their numbers and continue their spread across southern England. We hope that in years to come these iconic birds will become a much more common sight“.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said:

“The return of white‑tailed eagles to Exmoor is a powerful example of this government’s commitment to reversing the decline of nature and protecting it for generations to come.

“As part of our new ‘Wild Again’ campaign, we are investing £90 million into species recovery, marking the largest ever government investment to directly support threatened wildlife“.

Natural England National Delivery Director Matthew Heard said:

“Bringing white‑tailed eagles back to this part of the country is a hugely exciting step in restoring England’s natural landscapes. This licence supports a carefully planned reintroduction, grounded in strong evidence and built on collaboration with local communities and land managers.

“This moment has been a long time in the planning and shows what can be achieved when ambitious partnerships, good science and positive engagement come together“.

Ali Hawkins, Senior Ecologist with Exmoor National Park Authority, said:

“Exmoor, with its long expanse of coastal woodland, provides some amazing habitat for White-tailed Eagles, otherwise known as Sea Eagles. Their reintroduction to the National Park is an exciting next step in delivering more for nature recovery and we’d like to thank everyone connected to the project.

“We are committed to continuing to work with farmers and other stakeholders, to support them in adapting to this species fledging on Exmoor once again. We hope that people will be lucky enough to see one of these incredible birds in the coming years“.

The reintroduction of white-tailed eagles is conducted under licence from Natural England. Birds for release are collected from wild nests in Scotland under licence from NatureScot.

All of the released birds are fitted with satellite tags so that the project team can track their location and study their progress.

Reintroducing white-tailed eagles is a priority in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, and the latest licence announcement follows the Environment Secretary committing £90 million of funding for species recovery across England and exploring the reintroduction of golden eagles.

Implementation of the licence will be closely monitored by Natural England.

ENDS

UPDATE 18.30hrs: Statement from Natural England on decision to licence release of White-tailed Eagles in Exmoor National Park (here)