Mystery of poisoned eagles
Gardai launch probe after rare birds found dead
Allan Mee, project manager of the Golden Eagle Trust, with two of the white-tailed sea eagles discovered dead in the Glencar area in Co Kerry yesterday
More photos:Wednesday February 20 2008
GARDAI last night launched an investigation after two rare white-tailed sea eagles were found dead of suspected poisoning.
Detectives and wildlife experts say the protected birds, once a native species in Co Kerry, were found near the body of a sheep.
The male and female were only re-introduced into the wild last August, after an absence of more than 100 years.
Environment Minister John Gormley banned the use of meat for the purposes of poisoning or catching pest birds earlier this year.
The ban came after concern the use of such baits could lead to the accidental poisoning of birds of prey.
Tests will be carried out on the birds' remains to determine the precise cause of death.
The white-tailed eagle was driven to extinction in Ireland 100 years ago through poisoning and hunting.
Some farmers raised fears that the 15 eagles could pose a threat to lambs, but this was shown to be without any foundation based on experience elsewhere.
Allan Mee, the white-tailed eagle project manager, said the fact that both birds died at the same time, in the same area, and that one bird was found near a partially eaten sheep, strongly suggested that they died from poisoning.
The eagles are well known for scavenging dead sheep on the hill -- sheep that have not been found by farmers.
But if a farmer finds a dead sheep, he must either bury it or remove it for collection under Department of Agriculture rules -- whereas anyone laying poison on a carcass is actually breaking two separate regulations regarding poisoning with meat baits and failing to remove dead livestock.
Worrying
Mr Mee said it was very worrying to recover two dead eagles at the onset of the lambing season.
"But I must stress that the level of support and liaison I have with the Irish Farmers Association has improved enormously over the last five months," he added.
"I have met scores of farmers where the birds have settled and the vast majority of them are very supportive of the birds and many of them are keenly interested in the birds and their local history in Kerry," he added.
Mr Mee added: "Even if a handful of individuals still use poison meat baits, as has been a traditional practice and habit, that could ultimately cause the project to fail."
"We are unsure whether someone deliberately laid out poison for eagles or whether they were targeting crows or ravens, but the indiscriminate nature of poisoning is no longer acceptable."
"We believe the people of Kerry and the people of Ireland will simply not accept these eagles been driven to extinction, through poisoning, once again".
The bird, which can have a wing span of over 8ft, is one of the world's largest birds of prey.
The first bird, a male, was found on Monday and the second, a female, the following day, near a dead sheep.
Both corpses were located by radio tracking. The radio transmitters on each bird emits a different type of signal once the birds become stationary or die.
The two birds were alive last Friday in the Upper Lake area, Black Valley, in Killarney.
"It is suspected that both birds were poisoned and the toxicology tests will clarify the issue," said a statement from white-tailed eagle project.
Mr Gormley yesterday expressed his regret and concern over the discovery.
The 15 eagles had been monitored roosting, flying and feeding in Killarney National Park.
- Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent
