The poisoning of two white-tailed eagles – one in the hills of Donegal and another in Mayo has been condemned by Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Post mortem results from one eagle, found dead recently in the Blue Stack mountains in Donegal, confirmed it had been poisoned
Another young Mayo eagle was found dead on the shores of Lough Beltra in Mayo.
“I understand that landowners in Mayo were actively sending in regular sightings to the project manager/team. I am, therefore, very disappointed that some unknown individuals would wantonly try to kill these magnificent birds”.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service are investigating the killings. Minister Deenihan urged that anyone with information about the matter should contact the local Garda Siochána or the National Parks and Wildlife Service on 095-41054.
Dr Allan Mee of the Golden Eagle Trust said “Finding the White-tailed Eagle dead in such a beautiful part of Mayo was saddening.
“After releasing this male eagle in Killarney National Park in 2010 we have been following its movement with great interest. Last year it spent over 5 months in north Mayo where it had been undoubtedly fishing on some of the rivers and lakes there before returning to Kerry for the winter”.
Dr Mee continued “It returned to the same areas in Mayo in late March and would probably have spent the summer there again. It’s tragic to think someone for some unknown reason would kill it. We would like to acknowledge the cooperation and goodwill shown to the reintroduction project by local communities throughout Ireland especially farming and fishing communities. It is ironic to think that at the same time as the reintroduction project is now bearing the fruit of this cooperation with birds nesting and generating huge interest in Co. Clare, one of our birds has been needlessly attacked.”
The Minister also said “I find these incidents all the more disappointing given that it was only last month that a pair of White-tailed eagles were confirmed nesting near Mountshannon in County Clare. I am well aware that the presence of the White-tailed eagles in Kerry has proved a wonderful asset to tourism in my home county, and their establishment in other counties has great potential for tourism.
“Not only are they a tourist asset, but they can be beneficial in other ways. In other countries they have been shown to control the numbers of other fish-eating birds in freshwaters, such as cormorants.”
