Freed birds of prey strike fear in the hearts of farmers
THE EAGLES have landed. But if local farmers have their way, the rare white-tailed eagles won't be around for too long.
Yesterday 10 white-tailed eagles -- which were flown here as chicks in June -- were freed in Killarney National Park by Environ-ment Minister John Gormley.
But the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has warn-ed that some farmers who believe their flock is being threatened by the predators may feel the need to take the law into their own hands.
"This is a positive type of project but there has been no consultation with farmers," a spokesman said.
"We've seen in the Isle of Mull of Scotland that there have been problems with eagles killing lambs and we want to ensure that doesn't happen here."
He said that while they hoped the shooting of the rare birds "wouldn't happen", he added: "There does seem to be people who look at life differently."
However, local farmer Flor McCarthy said that most farmers are law abiding cit-izens and would not take the law into their own hands.
He warned that problems won't be evident immediately, but when the population grows, local farmers fear their food sources will drop and they will turn to farmer's stock.
The reintroduction of the white-tailed eagles is being directly managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), with an annual budget of €80,000.
Last month red kite birds of prey -- which have a wing span of up to 1.8m -- were released over the Wicklow hills for the first time in more than 200 years.
A programme to restore golden eagles to Donegal began in 2001, and a number of tagged eagles are living in the wild, with the birth of a first chick celeb-rated earlier this year.
The white-tailed eagle project will operate over a five-year period and it is expected they will disperse to the coastline.
The bird -- which is the fourth-largest eagle in the world -- was once native to Ireland but suffered heavy persecution at the hands of gamekeepers, egg-collectors, sportsmen and landowners and became extinct around 1910.
Adults are unmistakable with a short, white wedge-shaped tail, a very pale head and a huge yellow bill.
The Government has introduced a compensation scheme in Donegal whereby farmers whose lambs are killed by eagles are compensated, and they will be extending the scheme to Kerry.
However, no lambs have been killed by eagles to date.
