The mysterious deaths of the white-tailed eagles
Not all were pleased to see these ese raptors rewilded,d, says Joe Shute, as more meet an untimely mely end
In the weeks before its death, the white-tailed eagle identified by the satellite tag ag “G461” was seemingly thriving ing in its new surroundings. The young male, which had d been released on the Isle of Wight in 2020, had established ablished a territory around d Poole harbour in Dorset and become ecome something of a local celebrity. On one occasion, the bird “buzzed” a boatful of delighted schoolchildren, leaving them marvelling at its razor-sharp talons and huge wingspan, pan, which can reach 8ft – earning the e eagles the nickname “flying barn doors”. ors”.
But late in January, nuary, over north Dorset, the bird’s ’s tag recorded strange readings. On January nuary 27, its body was recovered from rom an unnamed shooting estate. Toxicology reports found that hat the eagle had ingested ed seven times the lethal dose of a highly toxic rodenticide enticide known as brodifacoum. facoum.
This untimely y death would be regrettable enough, ugh, but G461 is one of four white- e-tailed eagles released in a government- vernment-backed programme to have ave died or suffered a suspected poisoning ning along the south coast of England d in recent months.
The birds, also known as sea eagles, l were part of a five-year scheme launched in 2019 to reintroduce 60 eagles in England. The species had been native to these shores but disappeared more than 240 years ago as a result of persecution by landowners. Now the eagles have landed once more, it seems that there are some hoping that history might repeat itself, with suspicion falling on rogue gamekeepers and some farmers concerned for their animals.
The white-tailed eagle project, a partnership between the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England, insists plans to reintroduce more of the birds (with the next batch due this summer) remain unchanged despite the deaths. But the project has highlighted a deep divide in the countryside over the eagles’ return.
This split is exemplified by a remark by Chris Loder, the Tory MP for West Dorset, who after the news of the poisoning of eagle gle G461 posted on Twitter “Dorset is not the place for eagles to be reintroduced”, calling for Dorset Police to “focus on County Lines [drugs gangs] rather than spend time and resources on this”. The force has since closed the case without any charges – to the fury of campaigners.
Yet other investigations remain active. Earlier this month, newly published toxicology reports confirmed that another eagle – found dead on a Sussex shooting estate in October – had ingested a pesticide, bendiocarb, which is banned for outdoor use. The bodies of a buzzard and a dog were discovered alongside the bird and police are investigating.
In March, the remains of another white-tailed eagle turned up on the Isle of Wight. The bird was later discovered to have been suffering from avian flu, which means full laboratory reports have not been carried out. As yet there is no suggestion of foul play, but suspicions remain.
Supporters question uestionhow how anyone could deliberately target such magnificent creatures, but the size and prodigious appetites of the eagles have stirred up plenty of enmity.
In Scotland last month, Angus MacNeil, the SNP MP for the Western Isles, even called for a cull of the birds, which were reintroduced on the Isle of Rum in 1975 and have since established healthy populations down the country’s west coast. While an RSPB Scotland study, published in March, found that the white-tailed eagles had created a booming tourism industry worth up to £8million annually on the Isle of Mull alone, farmers are seeing a different side to the bird, owing to its predilection for attacking lambs.
As apex predators, the eagles typically hunt fish, waterfowl and small mammals. But according to farmers in Scotland, when they mature and raise chicks, the birds can choose to forgo their natural diet and target this easily available meat instead.
David Colthart, t a hill farmer in Argyll, is one of those to have suffered d repeated attacks on his flock. Last year, around 135 of his lambs were unaccounted for in areas monitored for eagles – the bulk of which he puts down to predation by the birds.
The 54-year-old, whose family have farmed the land for generations, says a couple of years ago his father saw a white-tailed eagle swooping down and snatching a lamb from its mother’s side. “He was only about 150 yards away,” Colthart says. “He was gobsmacked.” Despite this, the farmer, who is chairman of the Argyll and Lochaber sea eagle stakeholder group and a member of the national sea eagle panel, does not support a cull and is trialling methods for harmlessly discouraging the birds. On the Isle of Wight, to date there has not been a single report of an eagle attacking a lamb since the programme began – although farmers remain wary. Robyn Munt is a 35-year-old sheep farmer and chairman of the island’s branch of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). She has been closely involved with the reintroduction project and encountered her first eagle in the flesh three weeks ago. “They are huge,” she says. “I don’t think it is unreasonable that people are concerned to see a bird like that flying over their livestock.” Following the recent deaths, she says the NFU has circulated information among its members about the safe use of rodenticides. “The idea that anybody would intentionally do something like that is incredibly sad and I very much hope that is not a direction any of our members feel they would have to take,” she says. There is also the issue of persecution by rogue gamekeepers.
According to the latest RSPB annual bird crime report,
raptor killings are at a 30- year high, with 62 per cent of all a confirmed incidents on o land managed for or connected to gamebird shooting. As scavenging birds, white-tailed eagles are especially susceptible to feeding on poison baits. ba
There has also been a sharp spike spik in the number of birds killed by brodifacoum (as was the case with the Dorset eagle). Before 2016, the poison po was banned outdoors but those rules ru have since been relaxed, provided provide it is used close to buildings.
Such are the rising numbers of o deaths associated with the rodenticide roden – 25 birds of prey were reported to have been killed in the first half of 2021 alone – that Mark Thomas, the RSPB’s R head of investigations, says we could be facing a “DDT moment”, citing citi the pesticide that pushed peregrine peregrin falcons to the brink of extinction extincti before it was banned in the UK in 1986.
“This product is clearly killing kill large numbers of birds of prey, so that t is a major concern and one we have ha flagged to the Government,” he says.
The sheer number of raptors rapt being killed by brodifacoum can mean only two things, according to t Thomas. “The product is either being misused or abused.”
The extent to which foul play is responsible for the death of o the Isle of Wight eagles remains to be seen. But as the latest batch of released releas birds soar out over the Solent this th summer, they will be forced to navigate navi increasingly troubled waters. wat