Missing golden eagle was shot in southern Scotland, police believe

Until her disappearance, Merrick’s state-of-the-art satellite tag had been transmitting normally.

During the eight days before her disappearance, she was exploring the Moorfoot Hills. Then her tag suddenly stopped transmitting, indicating “no malfunction”, and strongly suggesting human interference.

Eagle Officer, John Wright, inspected the bird’s last known roosting spot and noticed a small golden oval-shaped head feather, two small wing covert feathers and some white under-down on the moss directly below the tree.

He said: “I saw a film of blood stretched across the grass stems. It subsequently turned out that a considerable amount of blood was present in and below the moss layer.

“I could see small downy feathers scattered in the dense spruce foliage below the roosting branches.

“Merrick had been roosting (sleeping perched) in a tree when her tag stopped transmitting. Golden eagles, as apex predator, have very few natural predators.”