An historic conservation success has been achieved in Ireland as two pairs of white-tailed eagles have produced chicks in the last week – the first for over 100 years!
The chicks are the result of a long-term project to reintroduce sea eagles to Ireland after they were ruthlessly persecuted to extinction in the early 20th century. Beginning in 2007, the Golden Eagle Trust, an Irish conservation charity, in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, began to release young sea eagles that had been donated by the Norwegian government. One hundred sea eagles were released in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, between 2007-2011 (see photo).
Last year one pair successfully laid eggs but unfortunately they failed to hatch. This is quite common for young, inexperienced eagles and this year, along with another pair, they’ve managed to produce chicks.
The project has not been without problems – many of the birds were wing-tagged and radio-tagged to follow their movements from the release site and this revealed that a number of them became victims of poisoning, shooting and windfarm collision. Others fared better though and a number have been reported in Northern Ireland and further afield in Scotland.
Many many congratulations to Project Manager Dr Allan Mee and his colleagues at the Golden Eagle Trust. These people are making history, not just with the sea eagle reintroduction but with similar projects for golden eagles and red kites too; species that also became extinct in Ireland as a direct result of persecution.
Golden Eagle Trust press release here
Raptor Persecution UK 
Great news. Let us hope they are left in peace for once. Just goes to show that if they were left alone, many iconic birds could be restored to their past ranges. Well done and many congratulations to those involved in the project.
Awesome.
What we’d all been waiting to hear. Great news. Well done to all involved in the project. Hope it grows from strength to strength.