An eagle that disappeared from Ireland more than 100 years ago
took flight again on Thursday as part of a scheme to reintroduce
native birds of prey to the country.
Ireland's Environment Minister released six young White-tailed
Eagles, one of the world's largest birds of prey, into a national
park in the southwestern county of Kerry.
"These eagles had pride of place in the cultural and natural
heritage of Ireland for hundreds of years but due to trapping and
shooting in the 19th and early 20th centuries they became extinct,"
Minister John Gormley said.
The eagle chicks came from Norway and were flown into Kerry in
June.
Some 15 chicks will be brought into the region annually over the
next five years as part of the reintroduction.
Organisers hope the project will replicate the success of a similar
scheme to reintroduce Golden Eagles, driven out of Ireland by
zealous gamekeepers and eager collectors in the early 1900s.
Adult Golden Eagles were brought to Donegal in northwestern Ireland
in 2001 and a Golden Eagle chick was born to one of the
reintroduced pairs in April this year - the first to be born on
Ireland's shores for nearly a century.
Kerry's rugged Atlantic coastline is an ideal habitat for the
White-tailed Eagle, which likes to feed on the carcases of dead
seals and porpoises.
The bird has a wing span of up to 2.5 metres and in neighbouring
Britain is confined mainly to the northwestern tip of
Scotland.
