An investigation has been launched after a white-tailed Eagle was found dead on land in Cavan with illegal poison in its system.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is seeking information after the discovery was made between Lough Ramar, County Cavan, and Lough Sheelin, Co-Westmeath in November 2022.
The eagle was part of a national re-introduction programme undertaken by the NPWS, and was found to have been killed by ingesting poison used as a ‘pest control’.
The NPWS is also urging people to be aware that the use of poisonous substances for the control of species such as foxes and crows is illegal - and has been since 2010.
In a statement, the authority said: “The healthy juvenile male White-tailed eagle - just over a year old - had been brought in as a chick in 2021 from Norway under phase two of a national re-introduction programme.
“Fitted with a small satellite tag prior to its release on Lough Derg in 2021 the bird had been largely spending time around Lough Sheelin (Co. Westmeath) and neighbouring counties and seemed to have settled into its new surroundings.
“A further two White-tailed eagles have been observed in the general Westmeath area - a 2020 female released on Lough Derg (who has been largely staying on Westmeath lakes for nearly 18 months now) and a 2021 male released in Killarney National Park. These two birds have been in Westmeath since April of last year.
“Reaching maturity at around five years old, these young eagles will hopefully survive to strengthen the small Irish breeding population that has become established since the reintroduction programme began in 2007.
“The NPWS was delighted that three of these birds had chosen Westmeath as their new home, and their movements were being monitored until the tag from the juvenile male White-tailed eagle indicated it was in the one spot in Cavan for a troubling length of time”.
A local NPWS ranger collected the bird's body on agricultural land in Cavan, and following the RAPTOR Protocol, a range of tests were carried out by the staff of the Dublin Regional Veterinary Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine at Backweston.
These tests were able to rule out Avian Influenza, illegal shooting, or trauma as the cause of death, with toxicology tests confirming it had been poisoned with an illegal substance known as Carbofuran.
It is not known how the eagle ingested this substance, but possibly from eating a dead animal laced with it.
Carbofuran is a plant protection chemical (i.e. an insecticide) that is highly toxic, particularly to birds.
Studies in the United States in the 1990s showed a single granule alone, resembling a natural seed grain in size and shape, could kill a bird.
Its approval for use in crop production was withdrawn over a decade ago in Ireland, and possession of carbofuran is illegal. Despite this, carbofuran and other poisons continue to be used to target wildlife in the wider countryside.
Speaking about this incident, NPWS Regional Manager Maurice Eakin said: “In this instance, it is particularly disturbing that the reckless laying of poison has resulted in the death of a White-tailed eagle, one of our largest and most majestic bird species, which had been persecuted to extinction by the early 1900s”.
Mr. Eakin said the NPWS is seeking any information from the public in the Westmeath/Cavan region, particularly anyone who may have seen any persons or vehicles acting suspiciously in recent weeks in the general area between Lough Sheelin and Lough Ramar, of Co. Cavan, which may assist them with their inquiries.
Since 2020, almost all chicks released by the White-tailed Eagle project are satellite-tagged, which enables the project to follow their movements as they disperse and establish in new areas away from natal sites and, in cases like this, to determine the locations of any tagged birds which may be in trouble.
Anyone with information on the matter is asked to contact NPWS at 01-5393156. These matters will be treated confidentially. Alternatively, information can be given to An Garda Síochana.
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