Perthshire Loch of the Lowes osprey died of natural causes
dailyrecord.co.ukA postmortem has revealed that a Perthshire male osprey, found dead in May, died of natural causes.LM12 had returned to the Loch of the Lowes reserve in March for his 13th breeding season and to reunite with female NC0.They had been mates for last five years and during that time fledged seven chicks.LM12 had raised 21 chicks in total at Loch of the Lowes during his lifetime.Ospreys are a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and Police Scotland carried out an investigation.A postmortem revealed that LM12 died of bleeding from stomach ulcers.A statement from the force this week said: “Following extensive enquiries on the remains of an osprey found near Dunkeld, on Friday, May 3, 2024, no criminality has been established.“It is believed the protected species, which is thought to have been nesting at Loch of the Lowes, close to where it was found, died from natural causes.”Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) Perthshire ranger Sara Rasmussen said this week: “We would like to thank Police Scotland for their efforts in establishing there was no criminality involved in the death of LM12.“The postmortem has revealed that the male osprey died of bleeding from stomach ulcers.“There was no indication of lead or any other poisoning; evidently, old age played its part.
We think he was at least 15 years old.“This finding is a great relief to us and I’m sure to our visitors, staff, volunteers and the thousands of people who tune into the Loch of the Lowes osprey webcam each week and have followed LM12 over the years.”Female osprey NC0 has remained at Loch of the Lowes throughout the summer, where she was seen pair bonding with another male osprey.Last week both ospreys departed on their annual migration to overwinter in
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