A new gilded age: Sir David Attenborough christens a rare golden eaglet

Yesterday, conservationists celebrated a fledgling eaglet with a name chosen by Sir David Attenborough. The bird is the first eaglet to fledge from the nest of a translocated golden eagle.

Sir David, who described the landmark moment as a ‘wonderful achievement’, chose the name Princeling, which means ‘young prince’ (the video below shows him being tagged). The regal-sounding baby bird was hatched by his somewhat less regal-sounding parents: Emma, a golden eagle translocated by the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project in 2021, and Keith, a locally fledged bird from Galloway.

Golden eagles, often described as the ‘King of the Skies’, play a vital role as an apex predator, but in the past two centuries, numbers in the south of Scotland had slipped to perilously low levels. At one point, there were only three breeding pairs left.

In response, the Golden Eagle Project, in collaboration with The Southern Upland Partnership, Scottish Land and Estates, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Scottish Forestry began translocating the animals to help reinforce the dwindling population. Over the space of five years, chosen eaglets, with the future of their species’ survival on their wings, were transferred to custom-built aviaries in confidential locations and then released, first into the Moffat Hills and then further south.

The number of golden eagles soaring majestically through southern Scottish skies now totals 50 — the most in 300 years. Some have even ventured into northern England; well in advance of plans, overseen by environment secretary Steve Reed, to formally reintroduce them there too.

The gargantuan bird has in effect been extinct from England for 150 years owing to persecution from farmers and gamekeepers — some of whom are likely to oppose the findings of a study by Forestry England, due to be published in the coming months, that is expected to conclude that there is habitat and prey capacity to support a new population.

Golden eagles predominantly feast on smaller mammals and birds, but have been known to predate on lambs; in the USA, they’ve even been known to snatch small pet dogs.