13 October 2016
Numbers of white-tailed eagles,
also known as sea eagles, could rise from 106 pairs of birds to 221 pairs in
less than 10 years, a new study claims.
Research commissioned by Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) predicted the growth to the year 2025 and beyond.
By 2040, the researchers
suggested there could potentially be between 889 and 1,005 pairs.
However, the study added the top
figure may not be reached because of a lack of suitable territory.
There have been three release
phases to re-establish the large bird of prey, which became extinct in Scotland
in 1917.
Two releases occurred on
Scotland's west coast - on Rum from 1975 to 1985 and in Wester Ross. The third
release was in Fife on the east coast from 2007 to 2012.
The report, authored by
researchers at RSPB's Centre for Conservation Science, modelled a range of
scenarios to predict the potential size of the sea eagle population, including
scenarios with no limits on population growth.
Other scenarios included limits
such as availability of suitable habitat, food and nest sites.
The return of sea eagles, the
UK's largest bird of prey, to Scotland, and also increases in their numbers,
have been the subject of fierce debate.
The eagles attract wildlife
tourists to remote and rural parts of the Highlands and Islands.
But some farmers and crofters in
these areas have told of the raptors taking lambs.
Five years ago, the Scottish
Gamekeepers Association (SGA) raised concerns about whether sea eagles could
differentiate between
children and their natural prey.
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