The National Parks and Wildlife Service is investigating the possible poisoning of a white-tailed eagle in Co Clare.
The investigation was launched following the death of one of Ireland’s oldest breeding white-tailed eagles, Caimin, which was discovered on Saturday.
Initial post-mortem results from the Regional Veterinary Laboratory (RVL) indicate possible poisoning as the cause of death.
Caimin was one of the first chicks released under the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s (NPWS) White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction Programme, launched in Killarney National Park in 2008.
In 2013, he and another reintroduced eagle became the first white-tailed eagle pair to successfully fledge chicks in the wild in Ireland in over 100 years, at Mountshannon on Lough Derg.
The Minister of State for Nature and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan, described the suspected poisoning as a “heinous potential crime.”
Poison accounts for nearly half of eagle deaths in Ireland where the cause can be confirmed.
The NPWS is now appealing to the public for assistance.
Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact their local Garda station or the NPWS office at 064 6670 166.
Eamonn Meskell, Divisional Manager at NPWS, said, “The knowing destruction of this wonderful bird of prey displays a wanton disregard for our reintroduction and nature protection efforts.”
