Whoever it was who took the picture of a sea eagle making off with a lamb clutched in its talons, has done everyone who cares about the countryside a big favour. The image, which was widely featured in the media last week, was captured on the Isle of Mull and comes as plans are being finalised to release several breeding pairs of the bird on the Isle of Wight. Hunted to extinction in the UK more than a century ago and reintroduced to the West of Scotland in the 1970s, the eagles have flourished along the way causing carnage for sheep farmers and crofters. Natural England, which was responsible for making the decision, said that it had carefully examined the risk of lamb predation and concluded that “sea eagles do not a pose a threat to livestock in “lowland farming areas”.
Those with long memories will no doubt smile ruefully at this statement, given that the Ministry of Agriculture as it then was, said something very similar to quell concerns expressed by the Scottish crofting community at the time when the birds were released north of the border the 50 years ago. And not just 50 years ago, for as an interview on the BBC’s Countryfile programme revealed, crofters have been complaining about the impact of predation on their livestock for years. This, in turn, has led to numerous failed attempts to find ways of keeping the birds away. So those on the Isle of Wight who have raised similar concerns are not likely to be reassured by Natural England’s bland statement that it “will ensure that the applicant puts in place clear routes to identify and manage any unexpected issues that might arise”. Precisely what those “clear routes” are remains to be seen, but whatever they turn out to be they will come as scant comfort when the residents of Cowes or Newport stare aghast as their cat or Yorkshire terrier is borne aloft to provide a light snack back at the eyrie.
What the picture did is add further to the large mountain of evidence both scientific and anecdotal, which rebuts the birding community’s wholly false claim that birds like buzzard and red kite are simply scavengers and that top of the tree avian predators such as eagle owl (the reintroduction of which is still on the agenda) and sea eagle pose no threat to livestock, pets and just for good measure other (and often threatened species of) birds. Alas, it is too late for the people of the Isle of Wight and now that Natural England is being run by a green activist, there seems little hope that in future there won’t be more calamitous ventures such as this one.
Leave a Reply