Wildlife specialists are to attempt to reintroduce a species of eagle that has been extinct in Ireland for more than 100 years in one of the most ambitious wildlife projects to be undertaken in the country in recent years, writes Liam Reid.
The white-tailed or sea eagle, one of the largest birds of prey in the world, is to be reintroduced into Killarney National Park later this year as part of a five-year project.
The project will see 15 chicks a year being brought from Norway, where they will be released into specific zones in the park. It is hoped that after five to six years the birds will begin to breed and will spread out across the coast of Kerry and west Cork.
The project is being overseen by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) section under the Department of the Environment and the Golden Eagle Trust, which has been responsible for the highly successful reintroduction of golden eagles from Scotland into Glenveagh National Park in Co Donegal. There are now four pairs nesting in the northwest.
In recent months the project has been working closely with Norwegian sea eagle experts who visited the southwest of Ireland.
According to Eamonn Meskell, Munster regional manager of the NPWS, the project team are "very confident" the sea eagle can be reintroduced and that the terrain is perfect habitat for the birds.
Wildlife expert Dr Allan Mee has been appointed to oversee the project.
Similar projects in Scotland have been very successful.
The project was welcomed last night by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who said it would help Ireland keep its international commitments on biodiversity. "Apart from the cultural benefits of having eagles back in Kerry, this project will help to fulfil part of Ireland's commitment to maintain and enhance our native wildlife under the obligations of the Rio de Janeiro convention on biodiversity."
With a wingspan in excess of two metres, the birds feed mainly on carrion and fish.
The bird became extinct in Ireland at the beginning of the 1900s due to egg collectors, and being shot as vermin by landowners.
The late taoiseach Charles Haughey made a failed attempt in the 1990s to introduce a breeding pair of sea eagles to Innisvickillane, his Blasket island off Co Kerry.