EIGHT RARE buzzards have been killed in suspected poisoning incidents in the northeast in the last two months.
The National Parks Wildlife Service (NPWS) said yesterday it was investigating the discovery of buzzard carcasses on farmlands in north Dublin, Louth and Meath.
The broad-winged birds of prey have only recently re-established themselves in Ireland after becoming extinct in the early 20th century through poisoning and hunting.
NPWS district conservation officer Maurice Eakin said he suspected the true number of buzzards being poisoned may be far higher, as birds often retreat to secluded spots to die after consuming contaminated food and their deaths may go unnoticed.
The spread of buzzards is traditionally viewed as beneficial to agriculture as their diet consists of animals and birds considered pests, such as rabbits, rats, grey crows and magpies.
Experts believe the buzzards may be consuming poisoned bait intended for grey crows which are known to eat recently-sown grain.
Under a derogation from the EU birds’ directive, it is allowed to use a non-meat bait to poison crows. However, buzzards, which are protected under the directive and the Wildlife Acts, appear to be falling prey to such indiscriminate poisoning.
A Co Meath landowner was successfully convicted at Navan District Court last week of poisoning rooks using bread laced with alphachloralose, a legal poison.
In mitigation, the defendant’s solicitor said his client did not realise that there was anything illegal in the laying of poison and that it is a “well-known practice”.
The death of a rare red kite near Tiglin, Co Wicklow, earlier this year was also due to alphachloralose poisoning.
The secretary of the Irish Raptor Study Group, Damian Clarke, said the killing of buzzards was contrary to the interests of the farming community as the birds acted as a control on pests such as rabbits and rats.
Mr Clarke said the successful return of buzzards to Ireland over recent decades has been an important milestone as it proved large birds of prey could once again be re-established here.
He said there had been a slow trickle of buzzards back into Ireland since the 1950s, mainly from Scotland. Even by the 1970s there were still only a few pairs in the North and as recently as the 1990s there were estimated to be only 26 breeding pairs in the Republic.
But the preliminary findings of the BirdWatch Ireland’s Atlas study 2007-2011 suggest there may now be as many as 300 breeding pairs in the Republic.
Separately, hundreds of people have signed an online petition in support of the reintroduction of golden eagles, white-tailed eagles and red kites following growing concern the birds are being deliberately poisoned and targeted.
Kerry TD Jackie Healy-Rae said he does not believe the eagles had been targeted and called on farmers to cover poisoned bait so the eagles could not get at it.
