Tests on the body of a rare golden eagle, which was found dead on a Donegal hillside last month, indicate the bird was poisoned.
The 10-month-old bird, which was brought to the county last August from the island of Mull in Scotland, was found in a mountainous area near the edge of Glenveagh National Park, using satellite tracking systems, on February 19th.
Toxicology tests carried out since then revealed the young female had been poisoned.
Gardaí, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture are investigating the killing.
Lorcán O'Toole, head of the Golden Eagle Trust, refused to disclose the type of poison used.
“Some of its feathers on its left wing were broken, suggesting the bird had been thrashing about in pain prior to its death. The bird was dead for over two weeks, but was probably frozen and covered in snow for some of that time,” he said.
“It’s very disappointing and a serious threat to the future of the project.”
Despite the modern satellite tracking system the eagle trust have not been able to establish where the bird was prior to eating the poison.
It is understood two suspects have been identified over the death.
It was face down in thick heather with its wings outstretched and according to a post mortem carried out in the Department of Agriculture regional veterinary laboratory in Sligo it had eaten shortly before it died.
It is believed others birds have been persecuted in this area including a young pair of eagles which disappeared in Spring 2006 and Mr O’Toole warned there may have been other unreported eagle deaths.
“We have recovered this bird because we had satellite tags on its back and we wonder how many more other birds we have lost in this area,” he said.
“We have our suspicions that we have lost other birds. While it’s disappointing it’s also good to prove the death.
“It is difficult to know if an individual is targeting golden eagles but we are adamant that whoever did this was targeting the birds as well. It’s a bloody-minded type of action. We don’t believe that ignorance could be an excuse.”
Mr O’Toole, however, praised the support the project has received from local farmers and the wider community in Donegal.
The county now has four territorial pairs of Golden Eagles, two of which are too young to breed. The success of the project is further demonstrated in the number of sightings across the country with people in coastal counties from Down right around the Atlantic coast to Clare claiming to have seen the birds.
PA