Scotland's golden eagle population faces ongoing welfare threats from illegal poisoning using agricultural chemicals despite legal protection and decades of conservation effort.
Poisoning by organophosphates, carbofuran and other chemicals causes severe welfare suffering including seizures, paralysis and protracted death. Lead poisoning from scavenging contaminated deer carcasses causes sub-lethal neurological effects and eventual death. Illegal persecution continues to depress breeding numbers well below the habitat's carrying capacity. Welfare of individual birds is severely impacted when poisoning occurs.