THE SCIENTIST in charge of the white-tailed sea eagle project in Co Kerry believes a further eagle has been killed, this time in Northern Ireland, and for the first time by shotgun.
It brings to nine the number of eagles killed by human intervention since their reintroduction two years ago, Dr Allan Mee said.
Most have been poisoned and until now most of the deaths have been confined to Kerry where there had been initial opposition by farmers.
The PSNI and wildlife groups in the North are involved in the investigation into the shooting of the female eagle, which was found floating on Lough Neagh in mid-October. An examination of the eagle’s transmitter indicated it had been shot.
Wildlife is protected in the North and infringements are taken very seriously, the PSNI said.
Eagles became extinct there in the 1950s, but their reintroduction in the South has seen the birds return to the North to the delight of the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group.
Dr Mee, previously involved with the successful reintroduction of the condor to north America, yesterday said 55 eagles had so far been brought from Norway and they are already becoming a major tourist attraction in the Killarney National Park. Lough Neagh in the North has become a favourite haunt of the eagles, with at least three white-tailed eagles recorded there. Others have gone as far as Scotland and the Orkney Islands.
The large lake was attractive because of its fishing opportunities for the eagles.
“Up until now the eagles have spent months at a time safely in Northern Ireland before returning to Kerry,” Dr Mee said.
The ambitious project, backed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service here along with the Golden Eagle Trust plans to reintroduce a 100 of the birds last recorded in Ireland off the coasts of Kerry and Mayo in 1898.
Dr Mee said he believed people would not accept eagles being driven to extinction once again.
Wildlife liaison officer with the PSNI, Emma Meredith, urged anyone with information to come forward.