RELEASE OF EAGLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 18, 30 August 1946, Page 8

RELEASE OF EAGLE

'' CAPTURED BY ACCIDENT

BATTLE FOR RELEASE High above the mountains behind Brora, on the south-east coast of Sutherlandshire, Scotland, a four-rironths-old golden eagle wheeled against the sun and dived earthwards towards his prey. It was the last act of freedom of one of Britain’s rarest birds.

Skimming over the brushwood he was caught by the legs in a rabbit snare, and the hunter was a prisoner. In a wooden tea-chest he was sent 600 miles to London by train, and now sits perched in a barred cage near the southern entrance to the London Zoo, while the battle mounts for his release. A Glasgow lawyer bird-lover has asked the help of the Secretary of State for Scotland and the chiefs of two police forces in his fight for the bii'd’s freedom.

Mr James McKellar, Secretary of the Scottish Society for the Protection of Wild Birds, is demanding that the eagle shall be sent back to Scotland and set free. He claims that the law protecting these birds has been broken.

But the Zoo disagi'ees, holding that the law does not apply to zoological societies. An official of the Zoo said: “The eagle was captured accidentally on the property of Mrs Walter Tyser, a Fellow of the Zoological Society, in Sutherland. “I have not received the Scottish Society’s letter yet, but I can say that it would be cruelly wrong to release the bird now, as it would be unable to fend for itself. It has been in captivity about a month, and is getting used to the idea.” Said Mr McKellar: “If the Zoo wants a golden eagle it should apply for a licence to capture one. This bird was caught by accident, and sent by a well-wisher to the London Zoo. The golden eagle is almost extinct in Scotland.” Said the police: “Inquiries are being made, but until they are completed we cannot make any statement. It is true that the golden eagle is protected.” Mrs Tyser was “amazed at all this fuss,” said said. “I take my hat off to my keeper, for these are very fierce birds. He put his jacket over its head and carried it for a mile to a little enclosure and attended its injured foot.”

While Mr McKellar was carrying on his fight in Glasgow, police officers in Sutherland, more than 200 miles to the north, were beginning to make their inquiries.

“It is definitely illegal,” said Mr McKellar, “to kill or hold a golden eagle in Sutherlandshire. The Wild Birds Protection Act prohibits the killing or keeping of a golden eagle or keeping or destroying its eggs.” Golden eagles are among the biggest and most courageous birds of prey in the world. They have been used for falconry in many parts of Europe and Asia, and attack hares, antelopes and foxes. They have been known to tackle wolves. .