Four white-tailed sea eagles released into wild in Co Kerry

Four white-tailed sea eagles, the first of 16 to be released as part of a long-term reintroduction programme, have been sent into the skies over Co Kerry by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

As well as the lower Shannon estuary, this year’s crop of Norwegian chicks, collected under licence in Norway, will be released in the Killarney National Park and Lough Derg.

The reintroduction programme began in Killarney in 2007.

Releasing the four eagles at Tarbert on Friday, the Taoiseach said: “I have followed this project for a number of years now and watching the eagles take to the skies for the first time is something that will last long in the memory.”

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Mr Martin paid tribute “to all those involved in this incredible project, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to local farmers, local communities and conservation bodies”.

The project underlined in practical terms Ireland’s commitment to implementing the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, he said. “I am particularly grateful to the Norwegian authorities and colleagues for their collaboration which has enabled this exciting reintroduction to happen,” Mr Martin said.

Once a striking element of Ireland’s natural landscape, the sea eagles were driven to extinction on the island in the 19th century. Over the past decade, the re-establishment of breeding white-tailed eagles at sites such as Glengarriff, Lough Derg and Killarney has proven popular with local residents and visitors.

As in previous years, the young eagles were collected under licence in Norway by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and co-workers. All the birds have been fitted with satellite tags in Ireland to enable their progress to be followed and their integration into the existing Irish breeding population monitored.

The first Irish-bred female to breed in more than 100 years has been the most productive eagle in Ireland in modern times with seven fledging chicks in the past three years, and this year saw the first Irish-bred male successfully breed. He and his mate fledged a chick at a nest in Glengarriff, Co Cork.

The NPWS has warned that “despite these breeding successes”, the small population of sea eagles is still vulnerable to factors such as illegal poisoning as well as Avian Influenza and adverse weather.

Friday’s release will be followed by a further release next Tuesday, when the Norwegian ambassador Mari Skåre, along with a group of people who collected the eagles in Norway, will visit Killarney National Park.

A reintroduction of the eagle had previously been attempted by former taoiseach Charles Haughey on his island home in the Blaskets in the early 1990s. However, it is believed the eagles were mobbed by crows and did not survive.