Ocean Sentry
(From sundaymail.co.uk)- A bird of prey expert has warned that Scotland”s last surviving sea eagles are under threat from crofters. There are less than 100 of the birds left in the country but Tom Horne, of the Birds of Prey Rescue charity, fears they could be shot by angry farmers who accuse them of slaughtering lambs.
Crofters claim three breeding pairs, which are protected by law, have killed 200 lambs in a tiny area of Wester Ross in the last year.
Tom said: “These three pairs of sea eagles will be shot and their bodies secretly buried. They will just disappear without trace like a Mafia victim. They won’t be killed by poisoned bait left on the hillside. That way their bodies could be found by walkers or tourists and the crofters would attract a lot of bad publicity. The eagles will be shot and their bodies vanish under the heather and peat.”
Sea eagles became extinct in the UK in 1918 but breeding pairs from Norway were released in Scotland in the 70s as part of an official re-introduction programme.
