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Efforts to poison Ireland’s rare sea eagles continue

Superstitious farmers may be to blame

By
DONAL THORNTON,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, November 23, 2009, 9:59 AM
Updated Monday, November 23, 2009, 10:00 AM

 

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Ireland's sea eagle
Ireland's sea eagle

Someone is trying to poison rare sea eagles who are making their homes in Ireland after a gap of over 100 years.

There have been nine unlawful poisonings of the eagles since they returned to their  habitat.

A 5-month-old male sea eagle was saved from almost certain death after being discovered by a local near Skreen in County Sligo.

The sea eagle is currently being cared for in the Golden Eagle Trust at Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal.

It is believed that the eagle will be returned to the wild next weekend after blood tests establish the suspected nature of the poisoning.

The director of the Irish Raptor Research Centre, Lothar Muschketat, said that, "he was a local man who found the bird standing soaked on a roadside. He could pick up the bird like a wet cloth. It was not able to fly away. The bird was in a very apathetic stage and didn't defend itself. When that bird arrived it was suffering from hypothermia. It was soaked and its plumage was covered by a kind of grease. It was dehydrated."

It is suspected that superstitious farmers may have poisoned the bird. There have been nine unlawful killings of the eagle similar since they were reintroduced to the Kerry habitat two years ago.

The eagle was once native to Ireland and the last recorded sighting of the animal before it was reintroduced was on the coasts of Kerry and Mayo in 1898. The eagle was traditionally hunted by farmers who feared that they were damaging crops and livestock.

"Most farmers are open minded and are willing to learn,” Muschketat said. “The problem is some people still believe in old wives tales handed down over generations that eagles carry away children, kill lambs and all these stupid stories. They are scavengers. They feed on dead animals.”

It is illegal to poison or shoot the eagles and there is currently an investigation underway to determine who may have attempted to kill the eagle. The PSNI have also launched an investigation after a white tailed sea eagle was found shot dead in Lough Neagh.

There have been 55 white tailed sea eagles reintroduced in County Kerry since the project began in 2007. It is hoped that double that number will be released into the wild.

The sea eagles were picked from a reservation in Norway and reintroduced by environmentalist who worked in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and Kerry County Council.

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7 Comments

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Posted by plasticpaddy on Nov 24, 2009, 11:04 AM EST
The natural forests of oak and other deciduous trees which were cleared for agriculture and in previous centuries often used to support the British shipbuilding and naval industries. Most forests in Ireland now contain almost exclusively coniferous trees which block out sunlight and are not kind to our native species such as foxes and red squirrels. Many irish animals that went extinct did so in the 18th -19th centuries such as the irish wolf, a magnificent species, our birds such as the eagle above suffered. The natural habitats in Ireland are restricted often to isolated spots such as the Burren, the national park in Killarney, the Galtee mountains to name but a few.
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Posted by kickstar on Nov 23, 2009, 07:39 PM EST
'plasticpaddy' You say "The majority of Ireland's natural ecosystem has been destroyed". Like What.??
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Posted by kickstar on Nov 23, 2009, 07:13 PM EST
There wasn't enough reasons to get arrested in Ireland so we had to import some more in the form someone called Muschketat who now promises that this is what will befall us if we interfere with his Raptors as he calls his Eagles. He is also not a big fan of Fairy Tales which is a strange position to hold and wanting to be in a country like Ireland,He says "The problem is some people still believe in old wives tales handed down over generations" , yes a lot of cultures subscribe to similar pastimes Mr Muschketat, Some people were even known to profit from writing and telling them 'Fairy Tales' Ask any member of the Irish Government.
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Posted by kickstar on Nov 23, 2009, 06:56 PM EST
They say there used to be Bears in Ireland do you think we should re-introduce them into the wild wherever the WILD is on a little island like Ireland. I personally am in favor of putting about 4 or 5 thousand Grizzly bears into Norway but only into their cities where the bears would not feel too lonely. What an idiotic exercise transplanting large birds of prey into an island where every square yard is walked upon.There is no shortage of fish eagles in the world Canada has millions of them but Canada also has WILD Millions of square miles of WILD.
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Nov 23, 2009, 02:31 PM EST
The story goes farther than I think is true of peoples belief. they might see them as a danger to lambs and chickens, but not children.
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Posted by Barbaracvm on Nov 23, 2009, 12:05 PM EST
An eagle at best can lift less than 5 pounds. A university did a study and the weight limit is very light. I hate to say it but continued belief in old wives tales is stupid.
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Nov 23, 2009, 11:41 AM EST
I hope this stops so some of the countries native wildlife can be restored successfully. The majority of Ireland's natural ecosystem has been destroyed and it should be a matter of national pride to see species and habitat restored as much as possible.
 


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