Police are investigating the poisoning of two golden eagles found dead in the Cairngorms National Park in northeastern Scotland.
The first bird was discovered in May and the second in early June, The Scotsman reported. The deaths were not disclosed while investigators tried to trace the poison, an agricultural pesticide named carbofuran that has been banned in Britain for the past three years.
"To me, the poisoning of a golden eagle is as serious an offense as you can get," said David Dick, a senior investigator with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. "Both these birds have been discovered within the Cairngorms National Park, and it is extremely concerning that there have been two poisoning cases in a matter of weeks. We normally deal with only one confirmed poisoning case each year."
Dick said he believes there have been other poisonings where the carcasses were not found, the newspaper reported.
In the second case, a group of hikers found the dead eagle on a remote hillside. The bird, which still had poisoned food in its beak, died in convulsions, Dick said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
