‘No definitive cause of death’ for golden eagle found dead on Scottish grouse moor
Date of alert:
Monday 1 May 2023
Crime Ref:
Force:
Police Scotland
In February this year it was reported that a young golden eagle, named ‘Sula’, had been found dead on the Queensberry Estate, an estate within the Buccleuch portfolio in Dumfriesshire.
She was from the South Scotland Golden Eagle Project, where eagles are being translocated from other Scottish regions in an effort to boost the declining population in the south. Sula had been translocated in 2022.
The Veterinary Investigation Centre at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) in Dumfries conducted a variety of tests (toxicology, histopathology, virology, bacteriology and parasitology) and have now reported that the investigation did not find a definitive cause of death, but did conclude that Sula had been in “very fit condition” before her death. Avian flu was ruled out.
