Disappearance of white-tailed eagle in Newtown suspicious

A large bird of prey has gone missing in mid-Wales after its satellite tag was cut off and hidden in a remote area, investigators have said.

Dyfed-Powys Police and the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit have appealed for information into the “suspicious disappearance” of a white-tailed eagle in Newtown, Powys.

They are the UK’s largest bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 2.5m (8.2ft) and are monitored by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. They are protected under UK legislation, making it illegal to kill, injure or take them.

Police have urged anyone who was in the following areas to contact officers:

• Between 11:00 GMT and 13:00 GMT on 13 September at, or around, the Gwgia Reservoir, Tregynon

• Between midday and 15:00 GMT 13 September on access land near Bryn y Fawnog

Officers said the bird’s satellite tag was found in nearby remote woodland and they believed it was likely removed with a knife before being hidden.

Many birds of prey, such as white-tailed eagles, golden eagles and hen harriers, are fitted with tags for scientific research and conservation reasons.

The force said efforts to find the bird had so far been unsuccessful, despite analysis of DNA and fingerprints.

It comes as police forces in England investigate the disappearance of two other white-tailed eagles, including a chick born in the wild earlier this year.

The eagles, also known as sea eagles, were hunted to extinction in England by 1780 and Scotland by 1918.

They were successfully reintroduced in England after a project by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and the Forestry England.

The eagles were then released in the Isle of Wight which went on to establish territories in Wales, Lincolnshire, Dorset and Sussex.

White-tailed eagles are not dangerous to humans and generally only attack in self-defence.

People typically hunt or persecute white-tailed eagles as they were considered a threat to game birds such as pheasants and grouse, as well as livestock.