Last golden eagle wild in Wales found dead by walker
A GOLDEN eagle believed to be the last of its species living wild in Wales has been found dead.
Although golden eagles are native to Wales, as well as much of Europe and North America, they have been extinct here for 170 years.
Like so many species they died out due to human persecution, with the last breeding pair believed to been spotted in Snowdonia in 1850.
The eagle, found dead by a walker in the Abergwesyn Valley, Powys, was originally a captive bird that had become a well-known character in the areas around the Llyn Brianne resevoir.
Welsh TV presenter Iolo Williams had featured the bird in his latest TV series Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales.
He told the BBC: “Wales has lost one of its greatest characters. The demise of this magnificent bird is more than just the death of an eagle. The Tregaron area has lost one of its great characters and Wales has lost a palpable link to its distant past. We are a poorer country without her.”
The show’s production company, Aden Productions, said the crew was “shocked and saddened”.
They tweeted: “Our whole crew was shocked and saddened to hear about the demise of our beloved Cambrians golden eagle, the last golden eagle to fly wild in Wales. We hope our final episode of Iolo; The Last Wilderness of Wales is a fitting tribute to her.”
It is not yet known how the eagle died.
There are still some golden eagles in the far north of Scotland and there is now a project to reintroduce the majestic bird into Wales.
But the Eagle Reintroduction Wales project is not straightforward.
The project will need Natural Resources Wales to issue a licence, a process which will look at:
■ The ecological feasibility – can reintroduced eagle populations ecologically survive in modern Wales;
■ the environmental feasibility – can the modern Welsh landscape still hold two restored eagle populations?;
■ the social & political feasibility – will restoring eagles fit into the modern community structure and ethics in Wales?;
■ the economic feasibility – the costs and benefits of restoring eagles in Wales?; and
■ the risk assessments – advantages and disadvantages of bringing eagles back to Wales.
These assessments will look reintroducing both the golden and white-tailed eagles to Wales.