Just when you thought that 2010 couldn’t get any worse for reports of poisoned eagles, we hear that yet another sea eagle has been killed in Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
This young female, only released into Ireland in the summer as part of the re-introduction scheme, is the 9th eagle since 2007 to be illegally killed in Ireland. This one was poisoned in a notorious sheep-farming area known locally as The Reeks, where another eagle had been previously shot.
The poisoning is despite strict legislation banning poisoned bait to control foxes, introduced in October after an outcry by conservation groups and representatives in Norway (who have donated the eagles for release) over the recent spate of poisonings in Ireland.
The police are investigating and are understood to be following a definite line of enquiry. Sounds familiar? Sounds like another soundbite to me – no doubt that this eagle’s killer will never be brought to justice, just like all the other eagle killers in Ireland and Scotland – nobody has ever been convicted of killing one of these magnificent creatures. Why is that? Perhaps John Scott MSP was right – perhaps they are all just imaginary crimes….
Full news story from the Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1222/breaking37.html
Raptor Persecution UK 