An investigation is underway into the ‘disgraceful’ killing of two rare white-tailed eagles found dead in County Antrim two months ago.
The birds were found dead in Ballymena on Monday, 15th May after coming into contact with the insecticide bendiocarb.
One of the eagles was born in Norway and brought as a chick to be released in lower River Shannon in August 2022 by then Taoiseach Micheál Martin as part of the NPWS white-tailed Eagle reintroduction programme. Its journey was traced from Donegal into Northern Ireland on May 1st, two weeks before it was killed.
The second bird was an unmarked immature bird of unknown origin, potentially from Scotland or Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is working to determine how the birds consumed the toxic insecticide.
“The illegal killing of these beautiful birds in a popular rural area is disgraceful, and for any individual to think that they can ignore the law and lay poisonous bait which has led to the killing of these birds, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said Rural and Wildlife Crime Superintendent Johnston McDowell.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have offered a reward of £5,000 for information leading to the prosecution of those involved in the poisoning.