Further to the news that Dorset Police has announced it has closed its investigation into the poisoned white-tailed eagle that was found on a shooting estate in January 2022 (see here and here), the RSPB has released a statement:
This story is a long way from over….
UPDATE 16.40hrs: Question to be tabled in House of Lords about Dorset Police’s decision to close eagle poisoning investigation (here)
Further to this morning’s post when I wrote about the rumours circulating that Dorset Police was about to announce it was closing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a white-tailed eagle found poisoned on a game-shooting estate in January this year (see here), well they’ve only gone and done it.
A few minutes ago Dorset Police’s main Twitter account published the following statement:
For all the reasons I wrote about this morning, this is not only an astonishing move by the police but also of very high concern.
As the police statement says, at this stage it’s not possible to know whether the elevated amount of rodenticide (Brodifacoum) found in the eagle’s corpse was the result of a deliberate act (a crime) or due to accidental secondary poisoning, but surely the whole point of a police investigation is to, er, investigate the circumstances further to try and determine what happened?
And even more importantly than that, there is serious concern that whatever that eagle had eaten may still be out in the open, risking the lives of other wildlife, not least the other satellite-tagged white-tailed eagles known to frequent this area.
I am deeply suspicious of Dorset Police’s motivations for closing this investigation. Again, as discussed this morning there are too many ‘coincidences’ for me not to be incredulous about this and Dorset Police now has some questions to answer.
Who took the decision to close this investigation?
On what basis was that decision made?
Was the decision unduly influenced by political interference?
Why isn’t Dorset Police searching for evidence of poisoned baits?
How does Dorset Police justify the potential risk to other white-tailed eagles in the area?
Why has the word ‘wildlife’ been removed from Dorset Police’s Rural Wildlife crime team?
Who took the decision to remove it?
On what basis was that decision made?
Was the decision unduly influenced by political interference?
If you’d like to ask these questions, and/or any others, please email Dorset Police on: 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk Please quote reference # 55220015571.
UPDATE 15.05hrs: RSPB ‘completely baffled’ by Dorset Police decision to prematurely end poisoned eagle investigation (here)
UPDATE 16.40hrs: Question to be tabled in House of Lords about Dorset Police’s decision to close eagle poisoning investigation (here)
UPDATE 30th March 2022: Poisoned eagle in Dorset had 7 x lethal dose rodenticide in its liver (here)
UPDATE 1st April 2022: Another eagle suspected poisoned on a Dorset shooting estate (here)
UPDATE 14th April 2022: Dorset Police refuse FoI request for correspondence between them and Chris Loder MP on poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 20th April 2022: Unconvincing statement from Dorset Police on closure of investigation into poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 21st April 2022: Chris Packham submits FoI requests to Dorset Police and the Crime Commissioner about poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 22nd April 2022: More questions asked about Dorset Police’s mishandling of the poisoned eagle investigation (here)
UPDATE 26th April 2022: The office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner: incompetent or something more sinister? (here)
UPDATE 27th April 2022: Dorset Police Chief Constable and the Police & Crime Commissioner on a futile damage limitation exercise (here)
UPDATE 29th April 2022: Another dead buzzard in Dorset – Police warn public of suspected poisoned baits (here)
UPDATE 29th April 2022: Email correspondence between Chris Loder MP and Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner re: poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 16th May 2022: Poisoned eagles in south of England feature in The Telegraph (here)
UPDATE 19th May 2022: Wildlife Crime Working Group seeks explanation from Dorset Police about failure to investigate poisoned eagle incident (here)
UPDATE 25th May 2022: Dorset Police and the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner in breach of Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to Chris Packham’s request for info on poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 26th May 2022: Further breach of Freedom of Information Act by Dorset Police re: poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 30th May 2022: Your opportunity to question Dorset Police Chief Constable on poisoned eagle case 7 breaches of FoI law (here)
UPDATE 31st May 2022: Premature closure of poisoned eagle investigation was ‘proportionate’ claims Dorset Chief Constable (here)
UPDATE 31st May 2022: Dorset Police’s generic FoI response on poisoned eagle investigation is inaccurate and unsatisfactory (here)
UPDATE 8th June 2022: Poisoned eagle investigation: “You and I need to get our ducks in the row on this one”, Dorset PCC tells Chris Loder MP (here)
UPDATE 11th June 2022: BBC’s Countryfile to feature #EagleGate (here)
UPDATE 14th June 2022: Watch Dorset’s poisoned eagle fiasco on BBC’s Countryfile (here)
UPDATE 19th June 2022: Dorset Police continues its damage limitation exercise re: its botched investigation into the poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 3rd January 2023: More info revealed on Dorset Police’s relationship with local MP & the botched investigation into the poisoned white-tailed eagle (here)
Dorset has become a bit of a raptor persecution hotspot in recent years following the discovery of a shot buzzard (here), the suspicious deaths of two barn owls and several more buzzards (here), the disturbance of nesting peregrines (here), the suspected poisoning of a number of buzzards and an owl in two separate locations (here) and the poisoning of a red kite, which led to a multi-agency raid where banned poisons and several more dead raptors were discovered (here).
Fortunately, Dorset Police has one of the best-equipped and most experienced wildlife & rural crime teams in the country, or at least it did have.
In January this year, the corpse of a white-tailed eagle was found dead on an unnamed shooting estate in Dorset (here). When the story broke in February it made national news (e.g. here, here, here), not least because this eagle was from the inaugural reintroduction project on the Isle of Wight and it was one of two dead eagles that had been found in suspicious circumstances in recent months (another is believed to have been found dead in Sussex in October 2021).
[The dead white-tailed eagle found in Dorset in Jan 2022. Photo by Dorset Police]
Dorset Police’s wildlife crime team led a multi-agency search to find this satellite-tagged eagle and they were pro-active in quickly releasing a public statement, even though toxicology results were still awaited, to reflect their understandable concern for the safety of three other satellite-tagged eagles known to be in the county at that time:
This level of proactivity stood in stark contrast to Sussex Police, who still haven’t managed to make any statement about the eagle that was found in suspicious circumstances on a shooting estate in that county in October 2021.
However, the high profile dead eagle in Dorset led to some unwarranted criticism of the police wildlife crime team by local MP Chris Loder, who argued, extraordinarily, that Dorset ‘wasn’t the place for eagles’ and the police should be focusing their resources on other types of criminality (see here) and not on suspected wildlife crime. And it wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark made in haste; he continued his tirade for sometime afterwards (e.g. see here).
I don’t know whether it was a coincidence but by early March the Twitter account belonging to Dorset Police’s Rural Wildlife & Heritage Crime Team had a name change. The words ‘wildlife’ and ‘heritage’ were completely removed from the name:
Here’s the pre-March Twitter account name:
And here’s the post-March Twitter account name:
That seems a bit strange. What prompted this change?
A further ‘coincidence’ is that the former Rural Wildlife & Heritage Crime team leader has been on indefinite leave since early March.
Hmm.
And there’s another ‘coincidence’. In late February Dorset Police’s wildlife crime team was making arrangements with partners to conduct a multi-agency search of the estate where the dead white-tailed eagle had been found. By early March those plans had been shelved. Why was that?
Yesterday rumours were circulating amongst conservationists that the toxicology results from the dead eagle found in Dorset had revealed the cause of death was rodenticide poisoning. Apparently this wasn’t the low-level background trace amount that is often found in raptor post-mortems; I understand the amount found inside this eagle was many, many times higher than the lethal dose.
Rumours were also circulating that Dorset Police is planning to release a public statement to announce the discontinuation of the investigation into the death of this white-tailed eagle. That would be astonishing.
In my view, if this is what Dorset Police intends to do, it is of very, very serious concern. Rodenticides are known to have been used recently in a number of suspected raptor persecution incidents (e.g. see here and here) and I’m told that the use of ‘higher than normal doses’ may be a new tactic employed by those who want rid of raptors but don’t want the risk of being caught using banned substances.
The legal use of the most commonly-used rodenticide, Brodifacoum, has been relaxed recently, allowing pest controllers to use it outside buildings. It’s so toxic to wildlife that government advisors actually trained pest controllers how to use it legally. The misuse of this rodenticide is a crime.
Now, in the case of this poisoned white-tailed eagle in Dorset, there might be a perfectly legitimate explanation for why it had ingested such a high dose of rodenticide; it may well have been the result of a terrible but accidental secondary poisoning. But equally plausible is the possibility that it ate deliberately-laid out baits containing doses many times higher than the lethal dose, placed with the intention of targeting raptors (a crime).
But how can this be assessed if Dorset Police is discontinuing its investigation?
And more importantly, what if the substances that killed that eagle are still on the ground? We know that other satellite-tagged eagles are in the area, now at serious risk.
It seems there’s something very odd going on here.
I’ve also recently received an FoI response from Dorset Police about its correspondence with the anti-eagle MP, Chris Loder. I’ll blog more about that in due course.
UPDATE 13.21hrs: Dorset Police does the unthinkable & confirms no further investigation into poisoned white-tailed eagle (here)
UPDATE 15.05hrs: RSPB ‘completely baffled’ by Dorset Police decision to prematurely end poisoned eagle investigation (here)
UPDATE 16.40hrs: Question to be tabled in House of Lords about Dorset Police’s decision to close eagle poisoning investigation (here)
UPDATE 30th March 2022: Poisoned eagle in Dorset had 7 x lethal dose rodenticide in its liver (here)
UPDATE 1st April 2022: Another eagle suspected poisoned on a Dorset shooting estate (here)
UPDATE 4th April 2022: Buzzard and red kite suspected poisoned on North Dorset Estate (here)
UPDATE 14th April 2022: Dorset Police refuse FoI request for correspondence between them & Chris Loder MP on poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 20th April 2022: Unconvincing statement from Dorset Police on closure of investigation into poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 20th April 2022: Tediously predictable response from Minister to Natalie Bennett’s House of Lords question on poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 21st April 2022: Chris Packham submits FoI requests to Dorset Police & the Crime Commissioner about poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 22nd April 2022: More questions asked about Dorset Police’s mishandling of the poisoned eagle investigation (here)
UPDATE 26th April 2022: The Office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner: incompetent or something more sinister? (here)
UPDATE 27th April 2022: Dorset Police Chief Constable and the Police & Crime Commissioner on a futile damage limitation exercise (here)
UPDATE 29th April 2022: Another dead buzzard in Dorset – Police warn public of suspected poisoned baits (here)
UPDATE 29th April 2022: Email correspondence between Chris Loder MP and Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner re: poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 16th May 2022: Poisoned eagles in south of England feature in The Telegraph (here)
UPDATE 19th May 2022: Wildlife Crime Working Group seeks explanation from Dorset Police about failure to investigate poisoned eagle incident (here)
Press release from RSPB Scotland (28 March 2022)
White-tailed eagles bring tourism boost to Mull
New study reveals significant benefits to the island’s economy
A new study “The Economic Impact of White-Tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull” has revealed the scale of the economic benefits that white-tailed eagles bring to the island. Tourism inspired by these majestic birds of prey accounts for between £4.9 million and £8 million of spend every year here. This money supports between 98 and 160 full time jobs on the island, and between £2.1 million and £3.5 million of local income annually.
[Photo by Amanda Ferguson]
RSPB Scotland commissioned Progressive Partnership to undertake the study, which was then reviewed by an academic and an economist. During the summer of 2019, 398 face to face survey interviews were conducted at five sites across Mull with parties visiting the island, amounting to 1,248 people in total.
Information was recorded on holidaymakers and day trippers covering the number of people in the group, the amount of time they were staying, and the amount of money they were likely to spend a day. They were also asked about their motivation for their visit allowing for the importance of white-tailed eagles as an attraction to be recorded. Those who were local (12.4 percent) were not asked these questions.
This study is the third to be undertaken on Mull looking into the economic impact white-tailed eagles have here, following the first in 2005 and the second in 2010. It repeated the same surveys and process as the 2005 and 2010 independent studies allowing a comparison over 14 years of the increasing importance of white-tailed eagle tourism to Mull’s local economy.
Mull is home to 22 pairs of eagles, and in 2019 29 percent of tourists cited them as an important factor for their visit to the island, up from 23 percent in the 2010 study. Tourism spend inspired by these eagles has also increased since 2010 when it accounted for between £3 million and £5 million annually, which supported between 64 and 108 full time jobs, and between £1.4 million and £2.4 million of local income each year.
The importance of nature in driving Mull tourism was also highlighted with scenery and landscape, peace and tranquillity, and birds and wildlife also being given as some of the main reasons for visits in 2019.
White-tailed eagles used to be widespread across Scotland, but human persecution led to their extinction in 1918. A reintroduction programme began on the Isle of Rum in 1975 and in 1985 the first wild chick from the reintroduced population hatched on Mull.
[Photo by Amanda Ferguson]
Anne McCall, Director, RSPB Scotland said: “Mull once again holds an important breeding population of white-tailed eagles, which are an incredible tourism draw for the island. This study makes clear the link between restoring nature and the local income earning opportunities that arise from it. However, living with these birds can pose challenges for some and it’s important that positive management protects both the birds and the livelihoods they can occasionally affect.
“What the study can’t measure is those human benefits less tangible than economic ones such as physical and mental well-being, public education, and cultural resonance. The Scottish population of these birds also provides important indications of how our environment is faring in the nature and climate emergency. For many people the delight of seeing a white-tailed eagle is reason enough to take care of them but this study makes clear that the birds can pay their way too.”
Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater said: “Scotland’s special wildlife brings many benefits – it attracts tourists to our shores and provides nature-based jobs that support our economy.
“That is why it is crucial that we must continue to support and protect Scotland’s bird of prey populations, such as the white-tailed eagle. Carefully managed re-introductions such as this one on Mull, are not only positive for the natural world but also positive for our communities.
“Scotland was one of the first countries to recognise the twin crises of nature loss and climate change, and this report shows the many rewards that working together to protect our natural assets can offer.” Partnerships have been key to the success of the white-tailed eagle reintroduction in Mull including those between nature conservation organisations, funders, land managers and the local community. The award-winning Mull Eagle Watch began in 2000 to provide places where people could have great views of the birds without disturbing them, and is a partnership between RSPB Scotland, the Mull & Iona Community Trust, Forestry and Land Scotland, NatureScot and Police Scotland. Thanks to social media and television programmes the white-tailed eagles have become well known, and along with the presence of golden eagles here have led to Mull being dubbed “Eagle Island”.
ENDS
The new report can be downloaded here:
RSPB Scotland has published a 7-minute video to accompany today’s publication. The video can be watched here:
Another white-tailed eagle has died in southern England and another police investigation has been launched. This is the third one since October 2021 and all three investigations are focused on eagles from the Isle of Wight Reintroduction Project.
Hampshire Police have become involved after this latest eagle’s ‘sudden death’ on 24th February 2022. A post-mortem has revealed the eagle was carrying avian flu but this has not been confirmed as the cause of death and other evidence, not yet in the public domain, suggests there may be more to this than meets the eye.
Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, partners on the eagle reintroduction project, have issued a very carefully-worded statement:
‘A satellite-tracked White-tailed Eagle from the Isle of Wight reintroduction scheme was found dead on the Isle of Wight on 24 February 2022. Circumstances surrounding the sudden death of the bird are being investigated by Hampshire Police and partners.
During a post mortem examination it has been identified that the bird was carrying avian influenza, although it is unknown at this stage if this is related to the bird’s death and enquiries are continuing‘.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said:
‘We were called shortly after 5pm on Thursday 24 February to a report of a dead sea eagle on Bowcombe Road on the Isle of Wight.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the animals death is ongoing.
We are not linking this to any other investigations at this time‘.
We are still waiting for the post-mortem and toxicology results to be published from the two other young sea eagles that have died in suspicious circumstances (see here). Both eagles were found dead on game-shooting estates, one in Sussex in October 2021 and one in Dorset in January 2022. Neither of them tested positive for avian flu.
There is ongoing police activity on both these cases, which may account for Dorset and Sussex police’s reluctance to release the post mortem results, but the longer this secrecy goes on, the more damaging to those force’s reputations when the results do finally emerge. And emerge they will, you can be sure of that.
UPDATE 9th February 2023: Death of white-tailed eagle on Isle of Wight recorded as ‘uncertain’ as presence of avian flu restricted toxicology tests (here)
Ten days ago, following the news (here) that two white-tailed eagles from the Isle of Wight Reintroduction Project had been found dead in suspicious circumstances (one in Dorset, one in Sussex), Dorset Conservative MP Chris Loder published an extraordinary statement on Twitter, whipping up some Victorian anti-eagle hysteria by declaring that ‘Dorset is not the place for eagles to be reintroduced‘ and suggested that Dorset Police shouldn’t waste ‘time and resources‘ on investigating (see here and here).
Twitter went in to meltdown and the story was picked up by several national newspapers, including the Independent and the Guardian.
The story prompted a new hashtag on social media, #BirdsOfPreyWelcome, with people from around the country sharing stories about how welcome birds of prey are in various locations.
Conservation group Wild Justice launched a Twitter poll (runs for three more days, here); the results so far indicate overwhelming support for birds of prey.
But given the ongoing persecution of raptors across the UK, Wild Justice is also asking members of the public to email/write to their elected representatives, whether they be in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, to ask whether they, too, support birds of prey.
Wild Justice has provided some guidance about what your email/letter might look like (here).
I’d encourage as many of you as possible to participate. We know that letter-writing campaigns like this can be incredibly powerful when enough people get involved. It sends a clear message to our elected representatives that raptor persecution is an issue of concern that needs addressing.
Thank you
Yesterday, Dorset MP Chris Loder’s Twitter notifications must have been off the scale as hundreds of angry people took him to task for his shocking comments (here) about not wanting Dorset Police to investigate the suspicious death of a white-tailed eagle, found dead on a Dorset shooting estate in January (here).
[The dead white-tailed eagle being collected for post mortem. Photo by Dorset Police]
Last night Chris Loder added fuel to the fire by posting this on Twitter:
This ridiculous statement (“plaguing our farmers“, FFS!) attracted plenty of well-deserved ridicule but it also generated even more anger and in some cases, unfortunately, personal abuse towards Mr Loder. But even when photographer Pete Cairns pointed out that the two photos of the eagle with a lamb had been staged, by Pete, for a separate project and then mis-used to illustrate the Scotsman article to which Mr Loder was referring, (this was a captive eagle with an already-dead lamb placed in front of it), Mr Loder was not for backing down.
It’s a familiar argument, of course, to those of us who have listened for years to prejudicial-driven hysteria about white-tailed eagles, although typically this has come from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (who remembers them writing to the Scottish Government warning that sea eagles might not be able to distinguish small children from prey?!) but to hear it from an elected MP in southern England was quite a shock, especially a Conservative MP whose senior Ministers keep pretending that bird of prey conservation is important to them (e.g. see here and here).
However, even DEFRA Minister Richard Benyon could read the room on this one and yesterday typed a suitably-exasperated tweet to Chris Loder, which was probably code for, ‘Shut up, you’re not doing us any favours here’:
I’d speculated yesterday that perhaps Chris Loder’s dissatisfaction that Dorset Police’s time and resources were being put towards an investigation into the suspicious death of the sea eagle might have something to do with the fact that the Conservatives have received substantial local party donations, over a number of years, from a prominent Dorset estate that just happens to be owned by a very wealthy landowner who appears to be part of the hunting set and whose spouse appears to have played a prominent role with the Countryside Alliance (here).
That may well be part of the story, but it’s also clear from his posts last night and from online information about his farming background that he’s susceptible to, and believes in, the anti-eagle propaganda routinely pumped out by the National Farmers Union, an organisation who refused, formally, to support the Isle of Wight Eagle Reintroduction Project because of a perceived fear of the impact the eagles would have on livestock, despite extensive consultation and evidence-based assurances by the project team that live sheep would not be at high risk. [But note that not all farmers agreed with the NFU’s stance and a number are supportive of the project].
This morning I’ve been sent some more information that suggests Chris Loder’s position may also be influenced by his family’s farming connections. Detailed research undertaken by Guy Shrubsole (author of the brilliant website Who Owns England) has revealed that Chris Loder’s family appears to run a tenanted farm on a large Dorset estate (a different estate to the one that’s been making donations to the local Conservative party) and on that estate there’s also a sizeable pheasant shoot.
As before, there is no suggestion whatsoever that either Chris Loder, his family, or the estate on which his family runs a tenanted farm, has anything whatsoever to do with the death of the white-tailed eagle in Dorset. What I am suggesting is that it is worth bearing in mind that when Chris Loder is proclaiming eagles as the farmers’ enemy and pronouncing that the police shouldn’t be spending time and resources on investigating the suspicious death of one of those eagles, found dead on a Dorset game-shooting estate, it’s worth remembering these vested interests of his.
And as interesting as this all is, I think it’s also a distraction from the main topic of interest here, and that is, when are we going to see the toxicology report of the dead eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Dorset in January and the dead eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Sussex last October?
And on that same subject, when will Natural England release the post mortem results of the two satellite-tagged hen harriers found dead in October last year (see here)? Or tell us about the investigation into the satellite-tagged hen harrier that probably had its wings pulled off 11 months ago (see here)?
Further to yesterday’s news that two reintroduced white-tailed eagles have been found dead in suspicious circumstances on game-shooting estates in southern England and that Dorset Police are investigating the circumstances of the one found in Dorset (here), local conservative MP Chris Loder has made an extraordinary statement on Twitter this morning.
[The dead white-tailed eagle found in Dorset. Photo from Dorset Police]
Here’s his tweet:
Is this guy for real?
This is a suspected wildlife crime of a very serious nature. The three most common methods for killing birds of prey on UK game-shooting estates are shooting, trapping (and then clubbing to death) and poisoning. We don’t know which of these methods, if any, have been deployed in this case but all are potential features of the case. The fact that Dorset Police have stated the eagle has gone for toxicology analysis suggests that poisoning is a possibility.
The poisons most frequently used to kill birds of prey in this country are highly toxic substances – banned in many countries because they’re so dangerous that just a tiny amount is enough to kill a human. The effects of using poisonous baits are indiscriminate. Not only may the baits kill the target species but any other species that happens to come into contact with it, or any pet dog, or any inquisitive human, including a child.
If the eagle has been shot, there’s a dangerous armed individual on the loose in Dorset.
If the eagle has been trapped and clubbed to death, there’s a dangerous psychopath on the loose in Dorset.
Why on earth wouldn’t Mr Loder MP want Dorset Police to spend time and resources investigating this incident?
It wouldn’t have anything to do with the local conservative party receiving donations from a prominent Dorset estate, would it? [Note: I am not in any way suggesting that the donor estate is linked to the death of this eagle, I’m pointing out that on the Parliamentary register of interests Mr Loder has listed substantial party donations from a Dorset estate whose owner appears to be linked to ‘country sports’].
Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team have hit back at Mr Loder:
Mr Loder’s response:
FFS. As if it isn’t difficult enough for under-staffed, under-resourced police officers to investigate wildlife crime. Imagine being on this rural crime team, which, by the way, has a deserved reputation for being diligent and sincere when dealing with alleged raptor persecution crimes, trying to get to the bottom of what will be one of the highest profile cases this year, under huge public pressure to deliver results (quite rightly, IMHO), and the local MP publishes demoralising tosh like this.
I hope his inbox is flooded with complaints.
UPDATE 12th February 2022: Dorset MP Chris Loder’s farming connections may explain his anti-eagle hysteria (here)
UPDATE 14th April 2022: Dorset Police refuse FoI request for correspondence between them and Chris Loder MP on poisoned eagle (here)
UPDATE 5th March 2025: Natural England quietly releases intriguing grouse moor location where two shot brood meddled hen harriers found dead (here)
Well it took longer than I expected but it’s happened.
Two of the reintroduced white-tailed eagles from the Isle of Wight Project have been found dead in suspicious circumstances on game-shooting estates in southern England.
The fact they were discovered during multi-agency searches is a clear indication that criminality is suspected. One was found in Dorset in January and the other one is believed to have been found in Sussex last October.
Toxicology results are awaited for both eagles, although why it’s taken four months for the results from the first bird is not yet clear.
[The dead white-tailed eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Dorset. Photo by Dorset Police]
There is huge concern for the safety of three other white-tailed eagles currently in Dorset, which I imagine is why the police have decided to issue this statement:
UPDATE 11th February 2022: Dorset MP Chris Loder doesn’t want Police to investigate suspicious death of white-tailed eagle (here)
UPDATE 12th February 2022: Dorset MP Chris Loder’s farming connections may explain his anti-eagle hysteria (here)
UPDATE 15th February 2022: Police investigate after sudden death of white-tailed eagle on Isle of Wight (here)
UPDATE 27th April 2022: White-tailed eagle poisoned with banned pesticide on a game-shooting estate in West Sussex (here)
Bird crime soared across the UK in 2020, and RSPB believes Scotland’s native birds of prey will continue to be persecuted, according to two new articles published yesterday in The Courier and The Press & Journal:
Birds of prey such as hawks, eagles, kites, buzzards, harriers, falcons and owls are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The RSPB’s annual report revealed that 2020 was the worst year on record for bird crime across the UK.
There were 137 known and confirmed incidents of birds of prey being killed, the highest number in 30 years.
This trend has continued in 2021, according to Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s head of investigations.
He said: “Bird crime covers a whole manner of crimes against wild birds, but what is particularly of concern are those crimes that have an impact on the populations and ranges of a variety of species.”
According to Mr Thomson, bird crime, also known as raptor persecution, is particularly rife in the north-east, with the hen harrier population being a fraction of what it was 20 years ago.
He also explained that golden eagles are only occupying around a third of the breeding territories that they ought to; meanwhile, peregrines have largely disappeared from the uplands in the north-east.
Mr Thomson believes that these low population numbers are largely down to the persecution of birds of prey for the intense land management of grouse moors.
Birds of prey are at the top of the food chain and they hunt and eat grouse and pheasants.
In an attempt to maximise the number of game birds available for clients to shoot, grouse moor managers will eliminate any threats to their birds.
This can include burning patches of heather moorland and releasing clouds of smoke into the air, leaving medicated grit out in the open and hare baiting.
The National Golden Eagle Survey shows that across Scotland the population as a whole is doing well and that there are significant increases in the west where there are no grouse moors.
Mr Thomson said it is the east of Scotland where the populations are a fraction of what they should be.
Scientific reports show that the illegal persecution of golden eagles, hen harriers, red kites and peregrines are largely happening in areas managed for game bird shooting.
“Unfortunately, these findings are largely happening in the middle of nowhere,” Mr Thomson said, “out of sight, out of mind, where witnesses are very far and few between.
“But, occasionally, an incident occurs that is detected.
“In 2020, about a week into lockdown when the entire population of the country was told to stay indoors or to exercise within five miles of your house, we had a young white-tailed eagle poisoned on a grouse moor in Strathdon, in an area with an appalling history of crimes against birds of prey going back 10-plus years.”
Mr Thomson explained there have been cases of birds of satellite-tagged birds disappearing under “suspicious circumstances”.
In March a golden eagle was illegally poisoned on the Invercauld Estate, a grouse moor in the Cairngorms.
Last year a satellite transmitter that had been fitted on a golden eagle was found at the side of a river.
It was wrapped in lead sheeting and thrown into the river where it lay for four years until a walker found it on the bank.
Mr Thomson said: “This is the efforts that people are going to cover up these crimes, they don’t want to be caught.
“The problem is, as I say, these crimes are seldom witnessed; to actually get any idea of the scale of it we’re really depending on doing population studies.
“We’re never going to find all the victims because, needless to say, if someone shoots a golden eagle they’re not going to leave it around for the RSPB or the police or a hillwalker to find.
“These crimes are being covered up.”
The RSPB Scotland’s head of investigations explained that there are other factors that have impacted the populations of birds of prey.
He said that all birds face challenges “just surviving”, through natural mortality, starvation, and loss of habitat due to the intensification of land management or agriculture.
Because of this, populations are much lower than what would be ideal, and so deliberate and illegal killing is adding extra strain to the populations.
As well as being important for biodiversity, birds of prey are an attraction for tourists visiting Scotland.
People interested in photography travel from all over the world to capture Scottish wildlife, bringing millions to the economy.
Mr Thomson highlighted that, on the Isle of Mull, around £5 million a year goes into the island from people going to see white-tailed eagles.
The Scottish Government plans to introduce licensing to grouse moors, which Mr Thomson described as a “game-changer”.
He believes the loss of a license to shoot will introduce a significant deterrent to the estates that do persecute birds of prey.
“There are places you wouldn’t want to take your dog for a walk in case it gets caught in a trap or eats something poisonous,” he said. “It’s not just birds that are dying, it’s people’s pets.
“Perish the thought that some day some small child will come into contact with chemicals like this, it could have absolutely devastating effects.
“It’s not only illegal but it’s reckless and indiscriminate.”
ENDS
