The Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating the illegal poisoning of two White-tailed Eagles recovered from the Glenwherry area, Ballymena, Co Antrim.
If information can be provided that leads to the conviction of those responsible, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is offering a reward of £5,000 (€5,858).
The PSNI issued a second appeal for information, as they now have confirmation that the birds, first recovered together in the Glenhead Road area of Glenwherry on 15 May 2023, were illegally poisoned.
Both eagles died as a result of ingesting bendiocarb, the PSNI stated. This insecticide is the most commonly detected substance in raptor persecution pesticide abuse incidents.
Conservationists monitoring one of the birds, which was fitted with a satellite tag, became concerned when the tag’s data indicated it had stopped moving. The bird’s body was then traced, with a second untagged bird also lying dead close by to it.
Post-mortem
Both birds were collected on 15 May and sent by the PSNI for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death. It is these results that then confirmed both birds were illegally poisoned.
RSPB Northern Ireland director, Joanne Sherwood, described the illegal poisoning of these two “magnificent” White-tailed Eagles as “absolutely devastating news”.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is offering a reward of £5,000 for information that leads to a conviction for the illegal poisoning of the birds.
“That's why the RSPB are offering a £5,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction of those who are responsible for this awful crime,” she explained.
The tagged bird was only a year old and was released in the Lower Shannon Estuary in August 2022 by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), as part of an on-going re-introduction programme, having been collected as a chick from Norway earlier in 2022.
The second bird was an unmarked, immature bird of unknown origin, potentially from Scotland or Ireland.
Poison
RSPB NI investigations officer Dean Jones highlighted that “poison left out in the open like this is utterly indiscriminate and poses a huge risk not only to wildlife but to people and pets".
“It is not only illegal, but extremely irresponsible and dangerous. We implore that anyone who knows any information on who is responsible for the death of these birds to get in touch with the PSNI,” he appealed.
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The Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating the illegal poisoning of two White-tailed Eagles recovered from the Glenwherry area, Ballymena, Co Antrim.
If information can be provided that leads to the conviction of those responsible, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is offering a reward of £5,000 (€5,858).
The PSNI issued a second appeal for information, as they now have confirmation that the birds, first recovered together in the Glenhead Road area of Glenwherry on 15 May 2023, were illegally poisoned.
Both eagles died as a result of ingesting bendiocarb, the PSNI stated. This insecticide is the most commonly detected substance in raptor persecution pesticide abuse incidents.
Conservationists monitoring one of the birds, which was fitted with a satellite tag, became concerned when the tag’s data indicated it had stopped moving. The bird’s body was then traced, with a second untagged bird also lying dead close by to it.
Post-mortem
Both birds were collected on 15 May and sent by the PSNI for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death. It is these results that then confirmed both birds were illegally poisoned.
RSPB Northern Ireland director, Joanne Sherwood, described the illegal poisoning of these two “magnificent” White-tailed Eagles as “absolutely devastating news”.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is offering a reward of £5,000 for information that leads to a conviction for the illegal poisoning of the birds.
“That's why the RSPB are offering a £5,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction of those who are responsible for this awful crime,” she explained.
The tagged bird was only a year old and was released in the Lower Shannon Estuary in August 2022 by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), as part of an on-going re-introduction programme, having been collected as a chick from Norway earlier in 2022.
The second bird was an unmarked, immature bird of unknown origin, potentially from Scotland or Ireland.
Poison
RSPB NI investigations officer Dean Jones highlighted that “poison left out in the open like this is utterly indiscriminate and poses a huge risk not only to wildlife but to people and pets".
“It is not only illegal, but extremely irresponsible and dangerous. We implore that anyone who knows any information on who is responsible for the death of these birds to get in touch with the PSNI,” he appealed.
Read more
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