Angus Sea Eagle Poisoning ‘public’ at last – 22nd January 2010
TaysidePolice have at last released a press release regarding the investigation into the death of a white-tailed eagle found on 6 August 2009 on the Glenogil Estate in Angus. They claim that extensive police enquiries have already been carried out after tests confirmed that the bird was illegally poisoned with banned agricultural pesticides. Nearly 6 months on from the initial discovery the police are only now appealing to the public for information.
The sea eagle was one of the 15 donated by Norway to Scotlandin June 2008 as part of the ongoing East of ScotlandWhite-tailed Eagle Release Project, a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage andForestry Commission Scotland. The birds had been met off the plane by the then Minister for Environment Michael Russell MSP and this bird was later released along with the others from a secret location in Fife. It is hoped that 100 young Norwegian eagles will be released over this period. Whilst most of the released white-tailed eagles have thrived, there have been several serious incidences of wildlife crime involving this species in Tayside.
The poisoned bird is likely to have ingested bait laced with banned agricultural pesticides that were deliberately laid on the Angus hills. The poisons used have been confirmed after analysis by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency. Detective Inspector Ally Waghorn, in charge of the investigation, said, “It is an absolute disgrace that the use of pesticides to kill what are seen by some as pest species continues in Scotland. There is also a real risk to any hill walker who might encounter and handle poisoned bait. I’d appeal to anyone who has any information about the incident, or any other illegal use of pesticides against wildlife, to contact the police. “ This is the second White-tailed Eagle to be poisoned in this area and Tayside Police also previously issued a press release regarding a Golden Eagle which was killed on the same estate. The multi-millionaire owner of the estate John Dodd is reported as denying that his estate had anything to do with the poisonings – see http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/153665.
The Minister of the Environment Roseanna Cunningham has also issued a press release suggesting – “Our wildlife is precious and needs our protection, which is why I support the work of Taysidepolice in fighting to tackle this despicable crime against our natural heritage. Their continuing efforts will help result in a safer Scotland for sea eagles and other birds of prey.” The Minister perhaps needs to ask some questions as to why Tayside Police have been so slow in seeking public support for what is a high profile crime with a high degree of public interest.
Complaints and representations have previously been made to Tayside Police by estate owners and agencies acting on their behalf, regarding wildlife crime investigations and associated adverse publicity. These tactics are designed to muddy the waters and stall police investigations – such tactics are commonly used by many high profile criminals against the police and it appears they have now crept into the wildlife crime arena. Police forces need to be robust in the defence of their investigative processes and ensure that any such tactics do not delay the due process of law, especially when cases have such a high degree of public interest.
Unfortunately the police have a poor reputation for resolving high profile investigations of this nature, andthis particular case will unfortunately do little to enhance this. RSPB Scotland has issued a strong statement which SRSGs fully endorse – http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-239540. Anyone with information relating to this incident is urged to contact Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222 or speak to any police officer. Calls can also be made in confidence to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
GULLIBLE OR WHAT!!
Comment contained in the Express Newspaper relating to this matter:
23.01.10, 1:53pm
Strange how this so-called plot should happen, on the land of a man already punished for previous poisonings in the same place?…Who would such a “plot” benefit?..
Not the police who have to investigate it – and believe me, the Scottish police don’t like investigating crimes linked to powerful landowners – not the agriculture department, who although keen to stamp it out, are politically attacked every time they apply the rules and have our tax money taken from the landowner/farmer.
No, what this shows is that the arrogance and greed of the people involved here [and you can add several other large grouse moor estates to that group] is such that , despite getting caught before, they’ve carried on as usual – lightning wont strike twice will it?
This man would have us believe that someone poisoned a sea eagle [dead easy to find of course!!?] then carried it onto his land and dumped it.It is perfectly easy for someone to go for a walk on a huge estate like Glen Ogil without being noticed…I’m sure many people do…but they don’t walk around carrying poisoned baits or victims. Finally on that subject many poison victims aren’t found for a very long time – for the good reason that they don’t always keel over dead immediately – especially a bird as large as an eagle. So the poisoner misses them. Happens all the time – which is why we know about poisoning in the first place!
Give us a break…how gullible do you think the public are Mr Dodd…you show contempt for wildlife, contempt for readers of newspapers…and contempt for the tax payers who are propping up your estate. I hope you have all your payments withdrawn ..that would be a just result for what is a shocking crime.
Comment by the members of Raptor Politics-
Raptor Politics was initiated almost one year ago to highlight the plight of so called “protected” birds of prey throughout the United Kingdom. The fact that these avian aristocrats have been extensively persecuted throughout the life time of each and every person who is alive on our planet today and during the lives of generation who have gone before us, is testament to the ignorance, intolerance and selfishness of a minority within our society. These individuals have always placed their own self-interests first, acting with autonomy, demonstrating their total contempt for any wildlife legislation designed to protect such important species within our country.
Such is the scale of greed and indifference being shown towards Britain’s raptors by a minority of wealthy individuals who place their own shooting interests first, the situation will continue to bring complete and utter shame upon our country.
May be it is time to remove all public money from Shooting estates. If Scottish Wildlife is worth £100 million a year to tourism how much would it be worth if all these bird and mammal species were not killed by these estates for a few days ‘so called’ pleasure a year. The £ 17 million Scottish Red Grouse moors make each year is peanuts compared to what is paid to them by tax payers each year.
This sea eagle did not die in August 2009. It died in March 2009, but the RSPB people could not locate the dead bird until they brought in an expert tracker in August 2009. The eagle was wearing a radio transmittor. Why is the RSPB burdening these birds with transmittors if their staff are incompetent and cannot operate the equipment to find the birds? Why is the police only now releasing information about this poisoning, nine months after it was killed? Why is the government issuing more platitudes in the press instead of taking some real action? How many more birds have to be killed before some-thing is done?