Police believe a golden eagle that vanished in the Borders was shot dead. Officers investigating the disappearance of the missing bird, named Merrick, are confident she died due to “human interference”.

The bird was satellite-tagged, having come to the area in 2022 through the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project. A subsequent probe found blood and feathers at the spot where she was last tracked on 12 October, west of Fountainhall between Heriot and Stow.

Police Scotland have worked with land managers, raptor workers and the public as part of an investigation. Officers are confident from “the nature and pattern of feathers and blood, and all other evidence, indicated that Merrick was shot and killed”.

READ MORE: Police believe missing golden eagle has come to harm as they launch investigation

Dr Cat Barlow said: “Police Scotland believe she was shot then fell to the ground, where she bled considerably through a single wound. Police Scotland believe that someone then removed her body and destroyed her satellite tag.”

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.

An eagle officer spotted a number of signs which indicated the bird came to harm
An eagle officer spotted a number of signs which indicated the bird came to harm

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.”

The bird had been part of an ongoing major conservation project in the south of Scotland to boost golden eagle numbers.

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