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File photo of white-tailed eagle chicks. Shutterstock

Taoiseach releases eagle chicks in biodiversity initiative to restore native bird to Irish skies

This year a total of sixteen young eagles will be released at three sites across Munster.

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has released four white-tailed sea eagle chicks in Kerry today as part of a long-term initiative to re-establish a population of the once-extinct native bird.

The eagle chicks arrived in Kerry airport on 1 July this year and the release in Tarbert, Co Kerry, today is part of the 2022 phase of this biodiversity initiative.

This year a total of sixteen young eagles will be released at three sites across Munster, including Killarney National Park, Lough Derg and the lower Shannon estuary, with the first of these being released today by the Taoiseach.

“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,” Martin said.

“It is wonderful to see the development since the first introduction of chicks a number of years ago. These white-tailed eagles are magnificent birds which will play a key role in a functioning ecosystem, after having been driven to extinction in the 19th Century as a result of human actions.”

As in previous years, the young eagles released today were collected under licence in Norway by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) 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 chicks, as they mature, will join the small Irish breeding population that has become established since the reintroduction programme began in 2007. Thirty one young eagles from Norway have been released over the last two years and by the releases this year will bring the total to 47.

Already, the satellite data shows that two birds released in 2020 have paired up with older birds and have established territories in Ireland.

Previously, in the first-phase reintroduction programme (2007-2011), 100 young White-tailed Eagles were released in Killarney National Park. Birds from these releases dispersed throughout Ireland with the first breeding occurring in 2012 on Lough Derg, Co Clare.

Since then a small breeding population of eight to ten pairs has established and has successfully fledged over 40 chicks, including seven chicks that fledged from the wild in 2022.

The first Irish-bred female to breed in over 100 years has been the most productive eagle in Ireland in modern times with seven fledgling 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.

Despite these breeding successes, a scientific review of the reintroduction project indicated the small population is still vulnerable to mortality factors such as illegal poisoning. The breeding population was also negatively impacted by Avian Influenza in 2018 and 2021, Storm Hannah in 2019 and adverse weather in other years during the nesting period.

Today’s release will be followed by a further release next Tuesday when the Norwegian Ambassador along with a group of visiting Norwegians, who collected the eagles in Norway and made this re-introduction programme possible, will visit Killarney National Park.

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    Mute Michael Campbell
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    Sep 25th 2011, 1:30 PM

    Horrible sport and then when they have drawn blood and tortured the poor creature they go to mass Sick

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    Mute Rachael M
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    Sep 25th 2011, 1:57 PM

    Good riddance to it, barbaric "sport"

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    Mute Jason Doyle
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    Sep 25th 2011, 3:04 PM

    About time.

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    Mute Mata Mata
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    Sep 25th 2011, 3:29 PM

    Here here !

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    Mute Diari Liffey
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    Sep 25th 2011, 3:33 PM

    One step more towards independence. Thanks God they are banning this.
    The problem is not because it’s an Spanish tradition, it’s because apart from being a complete shame, Spanish traditions in Catalonia have always been imposed by force and that usually creates a rejection. Catalonia has its own traditions and culture, it does not need anybody to go there and replace them as some have been trying to do during the last 300 years..

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    Mute RG Cuan
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    Sep 25th 2011, 6:14 PM

    Maith thú, visca la terra!

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    Mute Jeff
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    Sep 26th 2011, 10:28 AM

    I am all for Catalonia independence as it means Shelbourne FC will get to play Barcelona FC in the qualifying rounds of champions league more often.

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    Mute Ryan Coughlin
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    Sep 26th 2011, 12:45 AM

    You people are upset that this bull’s life gets ended in a quick 45 minute flurry? Sounds much nicer than living in a small crowded pen his entire life to get butchered and fed to some unthinking human. At least this bull got to live a somewhat natural existence outside with proper food and freedom.

    People always want to blame the OTHER guy for his mistakes. But the fact is, if you’re eating meat, you’re responsible for a whole heap of more animal cruelty, not to mention that meat is 1/4th part of the man-made CO2 today, and a big part in forest destruction.

    Frankly, this vegetarian would be happy letting the Spanish choose what to do with their (infrequently practiced) tradition, and then to ban all factory farms worldwide.

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    Mute Richard Fennessy
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    Sep 26th 2011, 8:08 AM

    quick 45 mins go visit a farm they live in fields not pens and the killing takes 2-5 seconds

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    Mute Ryan Coughlin
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    Sep 27th 2011, 2:33 AM

    Hi Richard.

    Quickly do a Google search. The amount of meat consumed on the planet that comes from traditional, non-factory farms is considerably less than 50%. And the proportion of non-factory animals in the world is decreasing per day.

    I imagine that most of us have never seen a steel mill, but it doesn’t mean that my metal products have come from a blacksmith.

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    Mute Richard Fennessy
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    Sep 25th 2011, 11:31 PM

    shame shame on the sickos who give thumbs down to this shameful blood thirsty evil scum i hope ye dont have kids r pets

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    Mute Diari Liffey
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    Sep 25th 2011, 7:40 PM

    Some pictures of this afternoon shame http://bit.ly/rjE7bl

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    Mute Jeff
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    Sep 26th 2011, 10:30 AM

    Bull fighting is no more cruel than Halal meat & dead a lot quicker and less painful.

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