A BREEDING programme for an endangered bird of prey has been dealt a severe blow after a tagged red kite was killed illegally on Royal Deeside.

Police are investigating the death of the tagged kite from an RSPB Scotland programme, which was found dead.

Appeals have been made to the public for information about the incident after a post-mortem examination revealed the tagged female bird, which was central to the programme reintroducing the species to the north-east of Scotland, did not die naturally. The bird hatched in 2010 and bred successfully in 2012. RSPB Scotland said the kite, tagged as Red/Blue 44, had raised three chicks close to where it was found dead.

Jenny Lennon, RSPB Scotland Red Kite Project Officer for north-east Scotland, said: "The whole Aberdeen red kite team of staff, partners and volunteers are deeply saddened by the death of red/blue 44; our first known case of illegal killing in Aberdeenshire since the project began six years ago.

"This female was of great importance to our young population, with only a handful of our 20 or so breeding pairs on Deeside itself. We hope the three 2012 offspring of red/blue 44 will thrive in Aberdeenshire and contribute further to the Scottish red kite population."

Hunted to extinction in Scotland in the 1870s, the red kite's reintroduction began on the Black Isle in 1989 and the bird was afforded the highest degree of legal protection under the Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

RSPB Scotland's Head of Investigations, Ian Thomson said "Despite a Scottish re-introduction programme that has been going for 24 years, the red kite is still a rare breeding bird here. It is one of our most spectacular and unmistakeable birds of prey.

"It is unforgivable that someone could deliberately target such a fantastic bird, and I ask anyone who may be able to assist in bringing the perpetrator to justice to contact the police."