RSPB Scotland is said to be furious that police in Tayside failed to follow up a series of bird of prey poisonings.

The UK’s largest wildlife charity attacked Tayside Police after it took five months to issue an appeal for witnesses to the latest incident in which a white-tailed sea eagle was found to have died from the illegal pesticide carbofurin.

A press release was only sent out by the force after questions were asked by The Scotsman newspaper.

The bird of prey, which had been brought to Scotland from Norway as part of a reintroduction programme, was found on the Glenogil Estate, owned by the multimillionaire co-founder of Artemis Investment Management John Dodd.

“There has been no rapid follow-up search under warrant,” said an RSPB spokesman.

He added that there had been “no look for further evidence” in this or other instances of alleged wildlife crime on or near the Glenogil Estate.

“The RSPB wishes to see all such cases followed up vigorously using the full force of the law.”

A spokeswoman for Tayside Police responded by saying that the case hadn’t previously been made public “to allow time for police inquiries to be carried out without the information being in the public domain.”

She added that they had to “work within the framework of the law” and urged the RSPB to contact them for further explanation of the required legal processes.

RSPB Scotland has been critical of the Scottish Government, arguing that a series of plans to step up efforts to tackle wildlife crime following a 2008 review – including a dedicated wildlife crime officer for each force – had not been implemented.

By Dan Sumner

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