Sea Eagles in Scotland - problems of reintroducing species September 23, 2008
Posted by Andy Roberts in : wildlife , trackbackSea Eagles Release Programme
Various attempts have been made over the years, some successful, to reintroduce wildlife species into areas where they have become extinct in the past.
The ospreys in England are one well known example, and a similar scheme is currently underway to reintroduce sea eagles into Scotland. This season is the second in a five year plan to release young sea eagles taken as chicks from Norway and already there are some breeding pairs reported. They’ve been seen around the Isle of May in Fife as well as in the North West Highlands. But there is a problem. As the farming today programme on BBC radio 4 reported, crofters in Gairloch are complaining about the sea eagles taking lambs. It is claimed that as many as 50% of one farmer’s lambs have been destroyed and that conservation groups are not taking the problem seriously.
RSPB
The RSPB pointed out that there are only three breeding pairs of sea eagle in the Gairloch area, and it would be highly unlikely the birds were responsible for the loss of all of the lambs. A spokesman for the crofting foundation said “We feel they put the birds here without our consent and without asking our advice.” So there we have a conflict of interest that may be quite hard to resolve. Sheep have been kept on hillsides ever since the land was cleared but white tailed sea eagles are historically indigenous to the country. How do we decide when to embark on a reintroduction programme? If there were a way to compete with the greys I’m sure we’d all be in favour of the reintroduction of red squirrels into the english countryside where they have been wiped out. Some people would reintroduce the wolf into Northern forests. But if it were possible to bring back the sabre toothed tiger and let them loose on Salisbury Plain I somehow don’t think it would happen.
Who decides?
Wild boar were once a common species in english woodlands and modern gastronomic tastes have brought about domestic cross bred boars, some of which have escaped and multiplied in the wild. Where this has become a problem they have been culled as an interloper, like the Canada geese in Victoria Park, Hackney. Who is entitled to make these decisions as to which species shall be allowed, reintroduced or culled? There is a difference between environmental concern and conservationism, habitat management, agricultural needs and possible pandering to a sentimental foem of tourism with attraction only to certain kinds of species which attract charity revenue.
Sea eagles have landed - video
Sea Eagles Update:
Lamb not on sea eagles’ menu, says RSPB
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB ) described the claims of some crofters as nonsense and said that the birds would have taken only carrion. It said that the birds thrived mainly on a diet of herring gulls, fulmars and fish fed to them by friendly trawlermen.
another source: Timesonline
I’m not very happy abut the fulmars!
Lamb-eating sea eagles upset Scottish farmers
William Fraser, chairman of the Gairloch and Poolewe branch of the Crofting Foundation: “In a few years time there’ll be no sheep left on the hills,”
It has also been claimed that bird watching is a hobby that creates little or no income for an area, whereas crofting / farming is a way of life and an income provider. On the other hand, eagles and the largest birds of prey are more likely to live off carrion so most of the sheep may be already dead.
is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
The thing is, if we re-introduce one without reintroducing the rest of its natural ecosystem (prey and predators), and without getting rid of the interlopers, we could generate an imbalance that is worse than what we have now.
I don’t what the answer is, but I tend to think ‘meddling’ isn’t it.
Mind you, I am (by a long margin) the worst informed member of my family on the subject of ecosystems and the like… the rest of them are all pretty clued up. Pity none of them inhabit the blogosphere. I suspect they’re have something far more useful to contribute.
Thanks for suggesting we think about whole ecosystems instead of individual species. In the case of the sea eagles these would have been top level predators sot out or poisoned by humans, extinct only since 1918.
Once a habitat has been protected, you can either wait for nature to move back in or have a go at seeding the population, which is a type of meddling I suppose. The fact that this is Britain’s largest bird of prey seems to give it a special concern, like the whales. Why do we prioritise animals just because they are big?
Sea eagles have already been re-introduced to Scotland (1975-1985 on Rum & 1993-1998 in wester Ross) and there is currenlt a wild popualtion made up fo some of these birds and their descendents of 43 prs over western scotland.
The release in fife is the 3rd phase of this project. These birds will not breed for 4 or 5 years. There have been prs breeding in Wester Ross for many years.
There has been a lot of work done to look at sea eagle diet and numbers of viable lambs taken, which shows that although eagles take lambs they have a negligible impact. What sea eagles do, do is bring in over 1.5mill to Mull tourist economy.
Conservation groups are taking the matter seriouslu and it is being investigated by Scottish natural heritage.
The government makes the decisions on what is re-introduced as they have to sign off the schedule 9 release licence based on various feasibility studies, poss impacts etc.
It’s actually not that unlikely that a handful of eagles could kill a lot of lambs. Single eagles have been known to kill a half dozen or more adult sheep at a time, because of the manner in which it occurs. Unlike coyotes or other predators, eagles don’t kill and consume entire animals in a sitting. They often attack the backs and faces of many animals in a single incident, and the animals subsequently die of the wounds through blood loss or shock (to which sheep are notoriously susceptible). Thus, while even a bear might totally eviscerate one ewe, an eagle can kill ten lambs at once. Counterintuitive, but true.
I can believe that eagles might kill more lambs than needed for immediate consumption because other predators do the same. Foxes are thought to go into a “killing frenzy” biting the heads off dozens of chickens for no apparent good reason but they are only taking advantage of th eopportunity presented. If undisturbed they will carry each off the carcasses off into the woods and bury them in multiple places for later. Perhaps the eagles are also obeying an instinct which isn’t exactly geared up for the density of farmed animals.