Sea Eagles come back to Kerry

After one hundred years, the White-tailed Sea Eagle is coming back to Kerry. A specialist group is overseeing this exciting project. This group has identified County Kerry as the best place in Ireland to re-introduce the White-tailed Sea Eagle. At present it is a work in progress and the group is talking to community representatives as local support and ownership is a key component of the project.

Although eagles had pride of place in the cultural and natural heritage of Ireland for hundreds of years, they were trapped and shot in the 19th and early 20th centuries and became extinct. The southwest of Ireland has many place-names, both in Irish and English, showing the strong associations between the local community and eagles e.g. Sliabh an Iolar (Slea Head), Eagle’s Nest (Killarney National Park) and Stuice an Iolar (near Adrigole). Eagles feature on the family crests of well-known families such as O’Donoghue.

The present project plans to reintroduce eagles into Killarney National Park over a five-year period. A team of experts from Norway visited the southwest recently and in their opinion, the rich peninsulas and deep bays of Kerry and West Cork are very suitable for White-tailed Sea Eagles. It is expected that the most of the eagles will disperse from the National Park to the coastline a few months after their release.

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 UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Not least, this project will have a viable and long-term benefit for tourism in Kerry. In Scotland, Sea Eagles attract thousands of visitors and have been shown to be worth up to €3 million annually to the small and remote island of Mull. As a flagship species, eagles will attract visitors and can be readily used to promote Kerry’s wild and unspoilt landscape.

In Donegal, the very successful project to re-introduce the Golden Eagle is now in its sixth year. The project has had strong support of the local Gaeltacht, farming, tourism and other communities. The famous Irish poem “Cill Chais” lamented the loss of the eagle with the lines  “Ni cluinim fuaim lachan ná ge ann, Ná iolar ag eamh cois cuain” [We won’t hear the call of ducks or geese there, nor the eagle calling across the bay]

The White-tailed Sea Eagle has been exiled for one hundred years. But now, with this project, people will have the chance of seeing eagles soaring again over the cliffs, bays and islands of Kerry and Cork.

 Notes

Who:  The project steering group consists of National Parks and Wildlife Service, Golden Eagle Trust and others. The project steering group has the relevant experience of eagles, re-introductions and wildlife management.

Where: Eagles will be sourced in Norway and the release site will be Killarney National Park. The National Park was selected as being the most suitable release site for the project.

How: The project will follow the methods of other successful projects in Ireland and Scotland. The birds will be reared with a minimum of human contact and monitoring will take place after release.

When: A full-time project manager has been employed to oversee the project. The first phase of the 5 year project will occur on Monday the 18th of June 2007 when 15 White Tailed Eagle chicks will be flown into Farranfore airport, by City Jet in first class, from Norway at 11.30am approx. A brief short photo opportunity will be available to the media. Eagle experts will also be available to brief the media. 

Further Information: 

Eamonn Meskell 
National Parks and Wildlife Service,
Killarney National Park,
Mucross,
Killarney,
Co. Kerry

 Tel: 087 2646438

 Fax: 064-33926
 Eamonn.meskell@environ.ie