By David Miller
BBC Scotland environment correspondent
One of Britain's leading wildlife experts has rejected calls for the number of white-tailed eagles in Scotland to be controlled.
Prof Des Thompson, principal adviser on Biodiversity at Scottish Natural Heritage, has told BBC Scotland there is no reason why the white-tailed eagle population should not reach "several hundred breeding pairs".
The calls for control measures have come from farmers and crofters, amid an increasingly-heated dispute about the impact the birds are having on sheep.
The birds, which are also known as sea eagles, were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway after centuries of persecution here.
The return of the white-tailed eagle to Scotland's skies is seen by conservationists as a success story.
But sheep farmers say they have deep concerns about the increasing numbers of the birds. There are about 80 breeding pairs on the west coast of Scotland and sea eagles have now begun breeding on the east coast.
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