Last of sea eagles released into wild

THE first phase of the white-tailed sea eagle reintroduction programme came to a close in Killarney National Park in recent weeks with the release of an additional 23 young eagles, bringing to 100 the number of birds set loose in the wild through this unique project.

Managed by the Golden Eagle Trust in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, the programme is seeking to re-establish a viable self-sustaining breeding population of sea eagles in south-west Ireland after an absence of 110 years.

“This is just the completion of this phase of the project,” says project manager Dr Alan Mee.

“We now need to ensure that as many as possible survive and set up territories. Our focus will next turn to helping them breed, which is the essential task of the project.”

Killarney National Park was chosen as the release site likely to give the reintroduction the best chance of success in one of the most challenging and exciting conservation projects ever undertaken in Ireland.

“As sea eagles can take up to five or six years to mature, we expect the first breeding attempts to happen by 2012-2013. Because sea eagles have very low breeding rates, establishing a viable population is dependent on low adult mortality,” he said.

Having lost 19 birds, mainly to suspected poisonings, and one from a collision with a wind turbine, Dr Mee believes the project’s public awareness programme has now resulted in greater support.

“The ban on poisoning in October 2010, combined with our awareness campaign, has resulted in only one bird dying from poisoning this year, a big improvement on the mortality rates from the early years,” he said.

The weather forecasters’ predictions of another possible hard winter for Ireland holds few fears for the project organisers given the sub-zero temperatures these young eagles grew up with in their native Norway.

“Our winters would not be comparable to Norway in terms of freezing conditions, but we will still ensure extra food is supplied for the birds if we do have any harsh extremes again this year.”

For the next phase, organisers hope nature will take its course, with a substantial number of the young eagles expected to pair off in order to breed over the next 12 months.

“Everything happens slowly with eagles,” added Dr Mee.