An investigation is under way following the death of one of Ireland's oldest breeding white-tailed eagles.
Caimín was found dead in Co Clare last Saturday and initial post-mortem results from the Regional Veterinary Laboratory indicate poisoning as a possible cause of death.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, National Parks & Wildlife Service Project Manager for the white-tailed eagle reintroduction project, Eamonn Meskell, said there has been an increase in poisonings of the birds over the last five years.
He described Caimín's death as a "uppercut" to the reintroduction programme, "but not one that's going to knock us back".
"We have satellite tags on all of our white-tailed eagle chicks that we release, and we find that when they stop or they become stationary, we will go out and pick them up," he said.
Mr Meskell explained that Caimín was brought to Ireland from Norway in 2008 and was one of the first consignment of 20 white-tailed eagle chicks that was sent from Norway before being released back into the wild.
He said that five years later Caimín mated with another white-tailed eagle from Norway, Saoirse, becoming the first pair to successfully breed and fledge, with the chicks flying from the nest in Mountshannon in 2013.
"That sparked off a really positive thing up in Mountshannon," said Mr Meskell.
"10,000 people actually visited Mountshannon to see the eagles and the chicks that year," he added.
Saoirse died due to avian flu in 2016.
Caimín later mated with Bernadine and the pair had chicks over the last three years.
Mr Meskell said there is light at the end of the story because Bernadine is currently raising a chick in Mountshannon.
He said there has been a disturbing increase in poisoning in recent years and that chicks have been lost to pesticide and rodenticide [rat poison] poisoning.
He said the initial autopsy shows that Caimín may have "succumbed to rodenticide poisoning" as well, but the full results are not yet back.
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