Wildlife service investigating fatal poisoning of protected white-tailed eagle in Midlands

A white-tailed eagle takes flight by the Tarbert Estuary, Co Kerry. File Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has issued an appeal for information on the death of a white-tailed eagle in the Midlands.

The year-old male eagle died after ingesting a poison used as pest-control. It was found on lands between Lough Ramar, Co Cavan and Lough Sheelin, Co Westmeath last November.

The bird, a protected species, had been brought from Norway as a chick and released by Lough Derg as part of NPWS initiative to reintroduce the bird to Irish skies. It, like all other white-tailed eagles brought here, was fitted with a small satellite tag prior to its release.

According to the NPWS, the young male had been spending most of its time in the vicinity of Lough Sheelin, but staff became concerned when they noticed the bird had been staying put for "a troubling length of time."

After the bird was recovered and Avian flu, illegal shooting and trauma were ruled out as causes of death, it was confirmed that it had died after ingesting Carbofuran, an insecticide. Despite the fact that approval for its use in crop production was withdrawn in 2010, Carbofuran is still sometimes used as a pest control agent.

The NPWS says it does not know exactly how the white-tailed eagle ingested the toxic substance.

It urged people to be aware that the use of poisonous substances for the control of species such as foxes and crows is illegal.

“In this instance, it is particularly disturbing that the reckless laying of poison has resulted in the death of a white-tailed eagle, one of our largest and most majestic bird species, which had been persecuted to extinction by the early 1900s,” said NPWS Regional Manager Maurice Eakin.

Mr Eakin said the death highlights how prevalent the laying of illegal substances like Carbofuran continues to be.

The NPWS says it is seeking any information from the public which may assist them in their enquiries into the bird's death. 

Its investigative team is keen to speak with with anyone in the Westmeath/Cavan region who may have seen any persons or vehicles acting suspiciously in recent weeks in area between Lough Sheelin and Lough Ramar.

Cuileann, the first white-tailed sea eagle successfully bred in Ireland in over a century.  Picture: Alan McCarthy 

The white tailed eagle, once widespread on this island, was driven to extinction here in the early 1900s.

In 2007, the NPWS began a reintroduction programme and released 100 young white-tailed eagles in Killarney National Park in a bid to begin to restore its population here, and to benefit biodiversity.

The birds subsequently dispersed throughout Ireland, with the first successful breeding occurred in 2012 by Lough Derg in Clare.

A second phase of the reintroduction began in 2020. In June 2021, 23 more birds were released in Killarney, on the River Shannon, on the lower Shannon estuary, and in Waterford.

Last year, wildlife and conservation experts celebrated the first successful breeding by an Irish-bred white-tailed eagle male in over a century.

The bird, named Cuileann, was reared in Glengariff in West Cork. Its father was born on the Iveragh Penninsula in 2017.