Wales' only known golden eagle 'consumed rat poison before death'

Rat poison may have contributed to the death of the only known golden eagle in Wales, a toxicology report has found.

The bird was found dead by a walker in the Abergwesyn Valley, Powys, in August last year.

A toxicology report has found it had "high concentrations of rat poison in its liver, which may have contributed to its death".

The Welsh Government said the accumulation of toxins did not appear to be deliberate.

In a tweet from the department of environment and rural affairs it said the findings "reinforced the need to follow correct practice" when using poisons.

At the time of the bird's death BBC Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams said "Wales had lost one of its greatest characters".

He had been tracking the movements of the originally captive bird in the remote valleys of the Cambrian Mountains for his series Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales, when it was found dead.

The bird even had a dedicated Facebook fan page detailing sightings but it often went unseen for months at a time.

With a wingspan of up to 7ft (2.2m), the bird has been largely extinct from Wales and England since 1850. The only UK stronghold is in Scotland.

Talks of the species being reintroduced into Wales are in progress.

The eagle was collected by a fellow member of Mr Williams' television crew and reported to the wildlife incident investigation scheme.

The Welsh Government said the amount of poison in the eagle's liver was "similar to those seen in other raptor species, such as buzzards, and reinforce the need to follow correct practice when using rodenticides to avoid contaminating non-target species".