7 May
2019
A young
hen harrier fitted with a satellite transmitter has disappeared on a moor in
South Lanarkshire.
RSPB
Scotland said the bird of prey was the latest to have gone missing in suspicious
circumstances in a "black hole" area of countryside.
The
female harrier, named Skylar, was being monitored by the RSPB near a grouse
moor south of the village of Elvanfoot.
Its tag
abruptly stopped working on 7 February.
The
RSPB's Dr Cathleeen Thomas said the disappearance in an area where birds of
prey have previously been illegally killed followed a "depressingly
familiar pattern".
She
added: "Her tag was working as expected, then suddenly stopped. There have
been no further transmissions, and the bird's body has not been located.
"Had
she died of natural causes, we would have expected the transmitter to continue
working, allowing us to recover her body. Sadly, we'll probably never know
exactly what has happened to Skylar."
In 2017,
a hen harrier and short-eared owl were shot and killed on a grouse moor a few
miles away from Skylar's last known location.
Three
more tagged hen harriers vanished in the area between June 2014 and May 2016.
Skylar
was fitted with a satellite tag in July 2017 just before she fledged from her
nest in Argyll.
