Rare white-tailed eagle disappears in Yorkshire

The sudden disappearance of a juvenile white-tailed eagle is being investigated by police.

The male chick was born in August 2025 as a result of a reintroduction and conservation project led by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.

The rare bird became the first white-tailed eagle to fledge in Dorset for more than 240 years and was satellite-tagged so the team could track its progress.

Police said the eagle arrived on the western side of the North York Moors on 30 April, but its tag stopped communicating overnight. Following analysis by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the eagle's disappearance is being treated as suspicious.

North Yorkshire Police has regularly investigated instances of birds of prey, including satellite-tagged individuals, going missing in areas associated with game shooting.

The force said the bird - with the tag G834 - travelled widely across the north of England this spring. Juveniles often roam extensively before settling down to breed.

However, contact was lost a month ago and there have been no further transmissions since.

White-tailed eagles are the UK's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.5m (8.2ft).

This chick was born to parents who were also part of the breeding programme.

They were released in 2020 in the Isle of Wight area and paired up in Dorset in 2023.

Forestry England said they were first-time parents and the male adult bird had lost a leg four years earlier.

Forestry England said the birds - also known as sea eagles - were once widespread across England, until persecution by humans wiped out the entire population by 1918. In the 1970s birds from Norway were reintroduced to Scotland.

The project to reintroduce white-tailed eagles across southern England is based around the Solent and the Isle of Wight and began in 2019.

The team said it was an ideal habitat for the coastal birds, with good foraging areas for fish and other food close by.

In May, it was announced that 20 sea eagles would be released across Exmoor National Park in Devon over the next three years.

Natural England has approved the scheme despite opposition from farmers who claimed that the birds would prey on lambs.

The eagles released on the Isle of Wight in 2019 already make regular visits to Exmoor.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.