Last surviving golden eagle in Wales is found dead by walker

Last surviving golden eagle in Wales is found dead by walker as BBC Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams says ‘we are a poorer country without her’ after he spent weeks tracking it

  • Last golden eagle in Wales found dead by walker in Abergwesyn Valley, Powys
  • Springwatch presenter lolo Williams described it as ‘one of greatest creatures’
  • Bird had become a local celebrity with a dedicated Facebook sightings fan page  

The last surviving golden eagle in Wales has been found dead by a walker as BBC Springwatch presenter lolo Williams says ‘we are a poorer country without her’. 

The naturalist TV presenter spent weeks tracking the golden eagle over remote valleys and hills.

The bird was already something of a local celebrity – with a dedicated Facebook fan page detailing sightings but often going unseen for months at a time.

The last surviving golden eagle in Wales was found dead by a walker in the Abergwesyn Valley, Powys

The bird was already something of a local celebrity - with a dedicated Facebook fan page detailing sightings but often going unseen for months at a time

The bird was already something of a local celebrity – with a dedicated Facebook fan page detailing sightings but often going unseen for months at a time

Springwatch presenter lolo Williams spent weeks tracking the golden eagle over remote valleys and hills

Springwatch presenter lolo Williams spent weeks tracking the golden eagle over remote valleys and hills

But the eagle has been found dead by a walker in the Abergwesyn Valley, Powys.

Williams described the death of Wales’ last golden eagle as ‘more than the death of just an eagle’.

He tracked the movements of the originally captive bird in the remote valleys of the Cambrian Mountains for his latest series Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales.

‘Wales has lost one of its greatest characters,’ he said.

The golden eagle – with a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres – has been largely extinct from England and Wales since 1850 with the only UK stronghold remaining in Scotland.

The last one in Wales was originally captive but was freed to live over the mountains around Tregaron, Powys. 

Williams described the death of Wales' last golden eagle as 'more than the death of just an eagle'

Williams described the death of Wales’ last golden eagle as ‘more than the death of just an eagle’

For his latest series Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales, the TV presenter tracked the bird through the remote valleys of the Cambrian Mountains

For his latest series Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales, the TV presenter tracked the bird through the remote valleys of the Cambrian Mountains

The golden eagle - with a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres - has been largely extinct from England and Wales since 1850

The golden eagle – with a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres – has been largely extinct from England and Wales since 1850

Iolo said: ‘The demise of this magnificent bird is more than just the death of an eagle.

‘The Tregaron area has lost one of its great characters and Wales has lost a palpable link to its distant past. We are a poorer country without her.’

The eagle was collected by a fellow member of Iolo’s television crew who has ensured its registration in the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme run by the Welsh Government.

The cause of the bird’s death remains unknown and naturalists hope that the species can be reintroduced into the wild.

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