Hopes soar for a 2018 Irish-bred white-tailed eagle chick

Hopes are rising that an Irish-bred, white-tailed eagle will produce a chick in 2018, writes Donal Hickey

It would be the first such happening in well over a century and would be a significant milestone for an exciting project to reintroduce the bird.

These sea eagles became extinct here in 1910 because of persecution by humans — through shooting, poisoning and stealing eggs from nests — but 100 birds have been released over the past 10 years as part of a National Parks and Wildlife Service reintroduction project. Thirty-three birds have died, with poisoning responsible for 40% of the deaths.