POLICE are investigating the death of a sea eagle.

The bird was reportedly found dead on private land in West Sussex.

An organisation called Raptor Persecution UK reported that a white tailed eagle, also known as a sea eagle, had been poisoned with a “banned pesticide” on a game-shooting estate.

Sussex Police confirmed an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“Sussex Police are continuing to investigate a poisoning of a sea eagle on private land,” a spokesman said.

“The force does not consider there to be a risk to the wider public as a result of this poisoning.

“This remains an active investigation with the Sussex Police Rural Crime Team which is being conducted with partners.

“Further updates will be given at the conclusion of the investigation.”

There were also reported sightings of white-tailed eagles in Pulborough last month.

In March, an investigation into the poisoning of a white-tailed sea eagle in Dorset came back 'inconclusive'.

A post-mortem examination took place, which detected high levels of brodifacoum in the rare bird - a substance considered one of the most widely used pesticides.

However, Dorset Police said they are not able to establish whether it was a deliberate poisoning or “secondary rodenticide poisoning”.

The bird was found dead in late January off the Dorset coast. The death sparked a large multi-agency investigation to find out what happened.

As a result of the examination, officers say they will no longer be investigating the eagle's death.

A second white-tailed sea eagle was also found poisoned in another location. Police were not able to disclose the location of where the second eagle was found, nor the results of any examinations.

The white-tailed eagles were released in the South of England as part of a project by Forestry England to bring the rare breed back into the country after 240 years.

The programme aims to release up to 60 birds over a five-year period.