Four White-tailed eagle chicks have been released into the wild at Killarney National Park as part of a programme to re-introduce the once extinct species back into Ireland.
The chicks are the first of 27 to be released in locations around the country over the coming weeks by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as part of the on-going programme.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, along with Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan, released the four chicks in Killarney National Park this morning.
Mr Martin said the bird is an important part of Ireland's biodiversity and heritage, and thanked all those involved for their work in the programme.
"We all all invested in the survival of these rare and beautiful birds, and have a part to play in keeping them safe", the Tánaiste said.
Eagles are go! One of the four white-tailed eagle chicks released by the @NPWSIreland in Killarney today - part of a 2007 re-introduction programme for the birds-of-prey. It's estimated that there are now some 80 of the birds living in the wild @rtenews pic.twitter.com/xDY76xqtGZ
— JennïeØSullivân (@OSullivanJennie) August 6, 2024
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Eamonn Meskell of the NPWS said that the chicks were taken from wild nests in Norway in collaboration with the national park service there, and were sent to Ireland in June to be used as part of the reintroduction programme.
"We collected them off the cargo flight in mid-June and we've held them in specially constructed release cages until then, until the birds are strong enough to fly, until their feathers are fully developed, and now they're at the stage of fledging or flying out into the wild, so that's where we're at now.
"Each of these White-Tailed eagle chicks that do fly out into the wild of Ireland will have a satellite tag attached to their back, so we're able to monitor them and research them and follow their progress as they go."
He explained that the birds are an apex predator, at the top of its food chain and mainly eat fish as they are whitetail sea eagles.
"They also eat carrion, so they're quite flexible in what they can eat and how they survive. They will eat what they need to, but fish is the stable diet," he added.
In relation to eagle chicks being found dead due to poisoning in the past, he said there has been a number of chicks lost since the project began.
"We did lose a number of White-tailed eagle chicks over the years since the start of the project in 2007.
"We had poisonings at the start which didn't really reoccur because we addressed the particular problem. We had a couple of kills through wind turbine strikes and people shooting them as well at times," Mr Meskell added.
"But, we've overcome all that. Our graphs and our research are now showing us that the project is becoming a little bit sustainable, even though it's not over the line yet.
"So, we address every situation as it happens and we have a lot of experience in the field now. So, we are in a good position and place now with this reintroduction project."
He said that there are about 60 or 70 eagles here now.
"You have normally a 30% death rate in birds of prey anyway. Over the last 20 years we might have brought in 200 White-Tailed Eagle chicks. We'll be lucky now if we have something like 60 or 70 White tailed eagles in the wild in Ireland at the present time.
"We now know that this last year was our most successful breeding year.
"We had something like ten nest sites in the country and we fledged, which means that the White-Tailed eagle chicks that were born this year flew from the nest, about 12 if not 13 eagle chicks in the country this year."
Mr Noonan said Killarney is a special place for the White-tailed eagle, with two chicks having successfully fledged for the fourth year in a row.
Six chicks were first released in Killarney National Park in 2007 with evidence of the birds-of-prey now breeding in counties from Cork to Donegal.
Once native to Ireland, the White-tailed eagle became extinct in the 19th century. Since 2007, the NPWS has been working with partners in Norway, landowners and communities to re-introduce the birds which feed on fish, water birds and carrion, to Irish skies.
Since 2020 all chicks are fitted with satellite tags so their movements can be tracked as they disperse and establish in new areas.
A protected species, the chicks are vulnerable to external factors such as adverse weather conditions, avian influenza and disease, and illegal poisoning.
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