Section:OBS 2N PaGe:12 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 11:44 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
- The Observer
12 04.08.19 News
“Sea eagles were once a com-
mon sight in England and southern
Europe but were lost centuries ago,”
said Roy Dennis , who has pioneered
the reintroduction of the birds to
Britain. “This project aims to reverse
that situation by restoring them to
their ancestral nesting places.”
Dennis added that the last pair of
sea eagles in England bred on Culver
Cliff on the Isle of Wight in 1780.
A spokesperson for Forestry
England said the new chicks had been
doing well since their arrival and that
once their health had been checked
they would be released into the wild
at several different locations in the
next few weeks.
The young eagles will be tagged and
monitored by satellite before being
allowed to fl y off. “We will study how
they are doing very carefully before
we move on to the next stage of the
reintroduction programme,” said the
spokesperson.
The reintroduction programme is
controversial, however. Some farm-ers oppose the move because they
say white-tailed eagles kill lambs.
Conservationists argue that sea
eagles only take dead lambs or ones
that are in a weakened state.
Sea eagles reach maturity at the age
of fi ve. They mate for life and produce
one or two chicks a year.
Persecution by humans saw them
wiped out in Britain a century ago,but they were reintroduced to west-
ern Scotland from the 1970s. There
are now 50 breeding pairs there, and
they attract hundreds of bird watch-
ers to the Inner Hebrides every year.
The island of Mull, where there are
22 pairs , has seen its tourist income
rise by £5m a year thanks to visitors
coming to see sea eagles, according to
a study carried out by the RSPB.The sea eagle has
landed – centuries
after it disappeared
U K’s la rgest bi rd of prey
set for release on Isle of
Wight later this monthSea eagles have returned to the Isle
of Wight 239 years after they were
last seen there. A total of six chicks
brought from Scotland were taken to
the island last month as part of a pro-
gramme to reintroduce the birds to
England’s south coast.
Also known as white-tailed eagles ,
the birds will be released into the wild
in the next few weeks.
Over the next fi ve years a total of
60 young sea eagles – which grow to
have a wingspan of up to 2.4 metres
(8ft) and are Britain’s largest bird of
prey – will be released on the island
in a programme approved by Nature
England. It is hoped the birds will
begin breeding there by 2024.Robin McKie
Science Editor‘Once a common
sight... they were
lost centuries ago.
This project aims
to reverse that’
Roy Dennis, wildlife expert
Sea eagles were
reintroduced to
Scotland in the
1970s, with plans
now to bring
them south.
Photograph by
Dan Kitwood/
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