Farmers fear eagles’ reintroduction to park will threaten sheep, fisheries

CONTROVERSY continues to surround plans to introduce white-tailed sea eagles to Kerry and West Cork.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) chairman in Kerry, Mr John Stack, yesterday claimed the eagles posed a threat to sheep farming and fisheries.

“These eagles can lift lambs and also kill salmon,” he told the Kerry IFA annual general meeting.

However, such claims have been rebutted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which has plans to release 75 eaglets in Killarney National Park, on a phased basis, over the next five years.

The NPWS said the eagles would not pose a serious threat to lambs and were mainly carrion-eaters, while also feeding on spent salmon and other fish.

The plan is to release the first 15 eaglets in Killarney National Park, next June or July. The hope is that the birds will then spread out over the peninsulas and bays of the south-west where they should find suitable habitat.

Donor birds are to be sourced in Norway which has a thriving sea eagle population.

Farmers are also afraid that the re-introduction of eagles, extinct in the area for more than 100 years, could lead to the designation of new special areas of conservation, on which farming practices and development would be limited. That could affect farmland prices, which have risen over the past year.

A huge bird of prey, the sea eagle is the fourth largest eagle in the world, with an eight-foot wingspan.

Environment Minister Dick Roche is a strong supporter of the project which, he said, would have a viable and long-term benefit for tourism in Kerry. He said sea eagles attracted thousands of visitors to Scotland and were worth up to €3 million annually to the remote island of Mull.

“As a flagship species, eagles will attract visitors and can be readily used to promote Kerry’s wild and unspoilt landscape,” he said.