Scotland’s sea eagle population increase has seen applications for a fund to support farmers and crofters with damage and predation costs rise by more than 10 per cent amid calls for a better long-term plan.

NatureScot’s Sea Eagle Management Scheme (SEMS) extends support for livestock farmers and crofters whose lambs are preyed on by the birds of prey. The sea eagle, otherwise known as the white-tailed eagle, was reintroduced in the 1970s on the Isle of Rum on the west coast.

The reintroduction of the species, which had been driven to extinction from persecution, has been hailed as one of the most successful given the growth in the population of the birds. Rewilding Britain claim today there are some 152 pairs of sea eagles in Scotland.