The two-year-old raptor, which hatched in Tayside in 2022, was fitted with a satellite tag while in its nest.
The tag was transmitting as expected until May 2024 when it suddenly went offline. Its last known location was an area of moorland in the Angus Glens – an area with a long history of illegal bird of prey persecution.
Investigators believe the bird has been killed and its tag destroyed, after data was handed over to the police.
Officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit and RSPB Scotland conducted a search of the area but found no trace of the bird or its tag.
Most recently, an Osprey was found shot in the Glen Doll area on 12 August – the opening day of the grouse shooting season. And earlier this year sat-tagged Hen Harrier ‘Shalimar’ disappeared in circumstances similar to this Golden Eagle.
It is a crime to kill a bird of prey, and anyone caught doing so faces a fine or even jail. Legislation introduced in March 2024 means that, if illegal activity takes place on a grouse moor, that grouse moor could lose its license to operate.
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Will Hayward, RSPB Scotland Senior Investigations Officer, said: “The sudden cessation of transmissions from this tag strongly suggests human interference, and reflects a pattern of tagged birds ‘disappearing’ almost exclusively on or near grouse moors that has become all too evident in recent years.
“Had this bird died of natural causes or if the tag had become detached, we would be able to locate and retrieve it.
“Given the well-proven reliability of this technology, when no body or tag is found, this is highly suspicious. We believe this bird has been killed and the tag destroyed.”
