Did You Know:
- The white tailed eagle was once a native bird in Ireland.
- They haven’t existed in Ireland in over 150 until 2007 when conservation efforts got underway for their re-introduction.
- The Irish National Parks And Services teamed up with experts in Norway to roll out the project as they supply the chicks.
- Certain criteria for a nest location is essential. There needs to be adequate land with privacy that’s quiet and where there are no people. The site has to be elevated, in sight of water and there can’t be any electrical wires in the vicinity. Landowners have to agree to hold the eagles on their sites.
- Chicks are put into release cages for 5 weeks, during this time they cannot interact with humans and they’re fed from a secret hold twice a day.
- At 2 months old satellite tags are put on the eagles a week before their release. Their wings are also dyed slightly. It gives data to their location, date of release, migration, distance travelled and mating habits.
- If the eagle chicks are in areas that the NPWS may be concerned of, they can visit to see that it’s suitable for them.
- In some cases, if tags haven’t moved for some time, the NPWS checks it’s status and in some cases the eagle has unfortunately died. In which case they check their data
- Some eagles have died from lead shots, or poisoning which suggests deliberate killing.
- The deliberate killing will go through an investigation process with the Gardaí.
- The reintroduction is proving a success with one eagle chick from an introduction in 2020, has mated with an eagle from 2017.
What You Can Do:
- Donate land for the NPWS to accommodate a nest.
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