TWO months after their release on the Isle of Wight, Forestry England has confirmed one of the white-tailed sea eagles has died, and Culver is missing.

Culver hit the headlines when he made an early foray to Essex and then returned, but shortly afterwards his transmitter stopped giving data.

Police and nature bodies on the mainland have been contacted and Island nature lovers are asked to keep an eye out for him.

The male bird who died was spotted eating a dead porpoise on an Island beach over several days.

Forestry England said: "We knew where he was roosting. When we noticed he had moved to a new place and had not been moving around very much, we immediately went out to investigate. "Very sadly on October 1 we found the bird had died. An initial post-mortem has been conducted and although no cause of death could be determined, further tests are underway that may provide some clarity as to exactly what happened.

"While this is clearly very sad, we know from previous projects involving white-tailed eagles and other raptors, that losses like this are unfortunately inevitable. During their first year the birds are inexperienced and depend largely on carrion whilst they hone their hunting skills.

"These are now wild birds and the reality is that not all will make it.

"Nevertheless, survival rates from similar schemes do offer encouraging signs. In Ireland 75% of juvenile birds survived their first year, and in Scotland 37% of birds reached their breeding age of five years old."

Four other eagles are still thought to be well and one has been seen eating carrion in Oxfordshire alongside resident red kites.

The birds were released on the Island in August in a project by the Roy Dennis Foundation and Forestry England. More eagles are planned to be released over the next four years.

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