White-tailed eagle in Kerry poisoned with banned substance, confirms NPWS 

A white tailed eagle in Co Kerry. File picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

A white-tailed sea eagle in Glencar, Co Kerry, has been poisoned with a banned substance, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed.

Toxicology tests confirmed the young female was poisoned with Carbofuran, an insecticide which has been banned in Ireland since 2007.

“It is not known how the eagle ingested this substance at this time,” the NPWS said. An investigation has begun, and the public’s assistance is being sought. 

A second eagle is suspected to have been poisoned in Co Clare, but the substance has yet to be confirmed. 

That case involves one of Ireland’s oldest breeding white-tailed eagles, Caimin, who held territory in Lough Derg. He was one of the first chicks to be released from Killarney National Park in 2008, as part of the White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction Programme to bring back the formerly extinct species to Irish skies.

The NPWS is appealing to the public for information on the Glencar poisoning. The scenic valley alongside Carrauntoohil in Macgillycuddy’s Reeks is mainly a sheep farming area and is popular with walkers and climbers.

The young female eagle was brought in as a chick from Norway in 2024 by the reintroduction programme and was released in Killarney National Park the same year.

Since 2020, all eagles released as part of this programme are monitored via satellite tags.

Concerns were raised in early April, as the eagle’s satellite tag showed she had remained stationary for several days. NPWS staff went to the location of the satellite tag and located the partially decomposed carcass of the eagle in a woodland.

Minister of state for nature and biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan said it was "a tragic loss", but added "the NPWS and his department would continue to protect and to introduce the birds which were once native to the Irish skies".

“We will continue with our efforts to introduce, nurture and protect these birds as part of the reintroduction programme, which has been making significant progress in restoring this lost flagship species to Irish skies.”

The reintroduction programme has so far released nearly 200 young eagles, which have been supplied by the Norwegian government. 

The eagles are delivered to Kerry Airport and the young chicks are taken to sites in Killarney National Park and the Shannon estuary in North Kerry, where they are fed and released into the skies.

Currently, there are 13 to 16 breeding pairs, with 64 chicks fledged by the end of 2024.

Persecution by humans is the biggest threat to the reintroduction programme in Ireland, the NPWS said. Poisonings account for nearly half of eagle deaths, where the cause of death is able to be determined.

At least one eagle has been shot and a number of eagles have succumbed to avian flu, as well as other conditions.

The NPWS said it “deplores the deliberate killing of rare and endangered species, and takes bird of prey persecutions extremely seriously”.

In its appeal to the public, the NPWS is calling for anyone who may have information in relation to the incident, or any other suspected poisoning or other unlawful killing of birds to come forward. 

Any information in respect of this or any suspected breaches of the Wildlife legislation should be reported to the NPWS head office or local offices or via email to [e-mail]. Wildlife crime incidents can also be reported to An Garda Síochána.

The public is strongly advised not to handle the dead birds in the interests of their own health and safety.