Police forces across the United Kingdom have launched investigations following the suspicious disappearance of three rare white-tailed eagles, dealing a significant blow to the ongoing project to reintroduce the species to British skies.
A Devastating Blow for Conservation
The missing birds include a chick that was one of the first white-tailed eagles to fledge in England for hundreds of years. Born in the wild in Sussex earlier this year, its disappearance alongside two other eagles in Wales and Scotland has alarmed conservationists. The incidents are being treated as suspicious because the satellite trackers fitted to the birds were deliberately interfered with.
In two cases, the tags were cut from the eagles using a sharp instrument and dumped near the birds' last known locations. The third eagle's tag simply stopped transmitting on 8 November in the Moorfoot Hills south of Edinburgh, with no further sightings. The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which works with Forestry England on the reintroduction, expressed devastation at the losses.
Police Appeals for Public Information
Multiple police forces, supported by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, are now appealing for witnesses. Sussex Police are seeking information regarding an eagle tag found in the River Rother, near Petersfield, Hampshire, on 26 September, and ask about activity around Harting Down and Petersfield on the evening of 20 September.
In Wales, Dyfed-Powys Police are investigating after a tag was recovered near Gwgia Reservoir, Tregynon, on 13 September. They urge anyone who was near the reservoir between 11am and 1pm, or on access land near Bryn y Fawnog between noon and 3pm that day, to come forward. Police Scotland are investigating the disappearance in the Moorfoot Hills.
White-tailed eagles, Britain's largest bird of prey, were driven to extinction in the early 20th century through persecution, primarily to protect game shooting interests. Since 2019, 45 eagles have been released in England, leading to several breeding pairs and the fledging of six wild chicks—the first since the 1780s.
Targeted Persecution Threatens Reintroduction
Campaigners state that the birds are sometimes illegally killed because they are perceived as a threat to game birds like pheasants and partridges. Disturbing the birds or their nests is a criminal offence. Tim Mackrill of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation said the team monitors satellite data daily and was heartbroken to find the stolen tags.
"It was devastating to find the stolen and dumped tags, particularly for the chick in Sussex who fledged this summer and had only just begun its life," Mackrill stated. Steve Egerton-Read, Forestry England's white-tailed eagle project officer, emphasised the public's role, urging anyone with information to contact the police.
Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK commented on the grim familiarity of such reports, noting the clear evidence of illegal persecution in at least two cases. The targeting of these pioneering birds poses a direct risk to the fragile success of the reintroduction programme, which has captured public imagination after a centuries-long absence.
