Reward offered for information after ‘disgraceful’ poisoning of two white-tailed eagles

A reward has been offered for information that following the poisoning of two young white-tailed eagles in Co Antrim.

The birds were found in the Glenhead Road area of Ballymena on May 15th. A postmortem established that the birds tested positive for the insecticide bendiocarb.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating how the eagles came into contact with the insecticide.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has offered a reward of £5,000 for information leading to the prosecution of those involved in the poisoning.

One of the young white-tailed eagles that died was brought into the Republic as a chick from Norway last year under the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s (NPWS) white-tailed eagle reintroduction programme. He was fitted with a satellite tag so his movements could be followed.

The bird crossed into Northern Ireland from Donegal at the start of May and was found dead two weeks later alongside an untagged young eagle, which the NPWS believes most likely fledged from a nest in Munster in 2021.

‘Majestic birds’

PSNI Supt Johnston McDowell, who has responsibility for rural and wildlife crime, said the illegal killing of the “majestic birds” was “disgraceful”.

“The test results suggest that an individual not only has access to the insecticide bendiocarb but has placed this in to the outside environment illegally, so that wild birds have been able to consume it,” he said.

“Bendiocarb is present in the trade product Ficam D, a powder which is only permitted for indoor use to control crawling insects such as wasps and ants, so using this active ingredient in fields would be a breach of Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR).

“The illegal killing of these beautiful birds in a popular rural area is disgraceful, and for any individual to think that they can ignore the law and lay poisonous bait which has led to the killing of these birds, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

He said officers, with support from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, have been on the ground conducting house-to-house enquiries in the areas where the birds were seen before they were found dead.

“The Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue to work with our partners to tackle this criminal activity, investigate any reports made to us and prosecute offenders,” he said. “There must be people in the community who are aware of individuals committing these offences, and who can come forward and assist police with any information they have.”

‘Very disappointing’

In a statement, Tánaiste Micheal Martin and Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan expressed shock and disappointment at the poisoning of the two young eagles. One of the dead birds was released by Mr Martin last August on the Shannon Estuary as part of the reintroduction programme.

“I have closely followed the reintroduction programme for a number of years and to be involved in the release of the seven young eagles in 2022 was an experience that I will never forget,” the Fianna Fáil leader said. “These are an iconic species, and the work of the NPWS in reintroducing them is something I, and the Government, am proud to support. There have been great successes in the programme over recent years, so to learn of a poisoning like this is very disappointing.”

Mr Noonan said he was “appalled” to learn of the deaths of the birds. “It has been encouraging in recent years to see birds nesting and rearing young hatched eagles here for the first time in over 100 years. An incident like this sets back our ambition but we won’t be deterred,” he said. - PA