10 more white-tailed sea eagles to be released into Kerry countryside

DETERMINED to recover from the devastating blow of finding 19 birds dead over the past four years, the team behind the white-tailed sea eagle reintroduction project will today release 10 more young chicks into the Kerry countryside.

The new batch, aged between 10 and 14 weeks, are from 23 newborn birds donated to the Kerry project by the Norwegian wildlife authorities in June.

The latest release phase will bring the total number reintroduced to the Irish countryside to 100 over a five-year period.

Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Minister Jimmy Deenihan will be an interested observer this afternoon when the 10 birds are released from a location within Killarney National Park where they have been acclimatising and gaining strength and confidence over the past seven weeks.

Project co-ordinator Dr Allan Mee said today’s release marks a very important milestone and it will help everybody involved to regroup after a succession of upsets in recent years.

Of the 19 birds found dead, 10 were confirmed to have been poisoned and it is suspected that another five also died as a result of something they consumed.

Two other eagles were killed when they came into contact with wind turbines.

“We’ve taken a very heavy hit but with the decision to impose a ban on the type of poisons involved we’re looking to a better future and we hope it will make a difference,” said Dr Mee.

“We are also involved in an information campaign to inform the public of the advantages of the project but it’s going to take time.

“We are confident that when the issue of poisoning has been properly tackled, there will be nothing to inhibit the eagle population from growing successfully as some of the first birds released in 2007 are now reaching maturity.”

The 10 eagles released today will be fitted with specially adapted radio transmitters to monitor their progress and track their travels and the electronic devices fitted to their backs will drop off naturally after a few years.

“We are monitoring many of the eagles we released already and they seem to be doing fine. In summertime they are dispersed all over the place and we have been tracking some of those set free in Killarney who are now frequenting places like Donegal, Connemara and even Scotland,” Dr Mee said.

“They are using the whole island and it is a very exciting time for all of us involved in the project.”