White-tailed eagles: Police investigating deaths of birds

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The white-tailed eagle, also known as sea eagles, are one of the UK's largest native bird of prey

17 May 2023

Police have launched an investigation following the discovery of two dead white-tailed eagles.

The eagles were found in the Glenhead Road area of Ballymena, County Antrim, on Monday.

"The birds had no obvious signs of injury and suspicions have been raised given the unlikely position where they were found," police said.

A post-mortem examination of the two birds is to be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland rural and wildlife crime unit launched Operation Subrision earlier in May to deter and detect rural and wildlife crime.

The specialist unit lead Spt Johnston McDowell said the discovery of the dead birds was very distressing.

Image source, PSNI

Image caption, The two white-tailed eagles were found in the Glenhead Road area of Ballymena on Monday

"The white-tailed eagle is the UK's largest native bird of prey, with a vast wing span of up to 2.5m, and is an incredibly beautiful species," Supt McDowell has said.

He said one of the birds was born in Norway and brought as a chick to be released in the lower Shannon estuary in the Republic of Ireland in 2022.

In a statement, police said they took all wildlife crime extremely seriously and appealed for anyone with information about the two dead eagles to come forward.