Irish Eagle killed
Sad news came to us yesterday that will disappoint many Irish wildlife lovers. An Irish bred Eagle chick that was only ten months old was found dead. The Eagle is believed to have died after ingesting poison from a dead sheep.
Lorcan O’Toole, from the Golden Eagle Trust, believes the reintroduction of many beautiful birds of prey will fail if Irish farmers don’t stop using illegal poisons.
The bird, named Connal, was born and reared in a Donegal eyrie last year and spent the last four months on mountains above Glencar waterfall, Lough Gill and Gleniff near the Sligo-Leitrim border. It was found dead on Truskmore Mountain last weekend.
Project chiefs said 10 per cent of the golden eagle population has been killed, putting the entire project at risk.
In total, nine white tailed eagles, golden eagles and red kites have been poisoned in the last two- and-a-half years.
Goldeneagle.ie reports that many backwards farmers are still illegally using poisons like that believed to have killed the Eagle chick.
We are genuinely despondent that 10 years of active awareness measures, liaison with farmers and schoolchildren and the production of a poisoning advice leaflet for farmers, agreed with the main farming representative bodies, has been effectively destroyed by a recent edition of the Irish Farmers Journal. The Sheep Section, within the Irish Farmers Journal, advised sheep farmers that “Alphachloralose placed in a dead lamb or the afterbirth can help trap foxes.” [Farmers Journal, 6th February 2010, see here]. This appalling advice on the unlawful use of fallen poisoned livestock, is indicative of a glaring disregard for regulations within a small sector of the Agricultural community and more crucially within the main weekly voice of Irish farming.
Before the usual cries come from rural Ireland complaining about “cityslickers” poking their noses into country life, this article is written by a country boy, born and reared.
And before urban folk start comparing country people to Neanderthals, don’t.
Not all country people approve of this kind of disregard for nature. It’s better for everyone in Ireland, no matter their background or location to join together and protest these kinds of terrible actions.
If people don’t start coming down hard on farmers doing this, the couple of hundred foolish farmers that are killing our country’s natural beauty will continue to poison and publications like the farmers journal will keep giving them terrible advice like the linked to article.
With Ireland in such an awful state, we should be protecting the rare seen glimmers of joy, instead of cruelly destroying them.
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