Cumbrian farmers are calling for consultation over plans to reintroduce the white tailed eagle to the county.
Although not opposed in principle to the Cumbrian White Tailed Eagle Project — backed by organisations including the University of Cumbria, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Lake District National Park Authority — they are concerned that the massive predators could take their valuable lambs.
An initial look into the possibility of returning the eagles to Cumbria was done in 2023 and this suggested there is suitable habitat in the county, so the project is now looking at what people think about reintroducing the species.
With a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres, white tailed eagles are Britain’s largest native bird of prey, feeding on birds, fish and mammals.
They were once widespread in Britain, but numbers declined and they disappeared from the country in 1918.
They have since been reintroduced to Scotland and the Isle of Wight, as well as Ireland. There are now breeding populations across Scotland and Ireland.
A spokesman for the project said: “Cumbria is a location of strategic importance for white tailed eagles, sitting between Scottish, Irish, and southern England populations which have already been reintroduced and acting as a potential connection between each of them.
“Our research found that Cumbria has suitable habitat for these eagles as well as plenty of food and that reintroduced birds would be able to grow into a healthy population. The southern half of Cumbria has ideal habitat for white-tailed eagles, with woodlands providing breeding sites and productive lakes and coastlines providing food.”
However, the county’s farmers have concerns that they could be left to foot the bill if the project goes ahead.
NFU Cumbria chair John Longmire, from Ulverston, said: “We are aware of the proposal to reintroduce white tailed eagles into Cumbria. We have reached out to the project promotors to learn more before consulting our members.
“We are aware that members in other parts of the country have already raised concerns that white tailed eagles might prey on livestock including lambs, piglets and free range poultry, and impact farmers conservation efforts.”
In Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage has admitted that the eagles do take live lambs for food and, where there is a lack of other prey species, can even carry off adult sheep. NFU Scotland says some farmers have suffered “substantial losses” as a result.
Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association, said: “We absolutely support healthy ecosystems and believe that most sheep farmers are already going beyond their everyday activities to provide space and opportunity for nature. But there has to be a balance and there has to be mitigation options that can be used when things go wrong and local populations turn their attention to predating on lambs.
“We now have a large population of white tailed eagles in Scotland and a growing population coming from a staged release on the Isle of Wight — a project NSA has been closely involved in — and these birds are already ranging widely and over time are likely to populate new areas across the country.
“It seems that local conservation organisations are jumping on the bandwagon and treating these releases as ‘vanity projects’, rather than allowing a more natural spread that would be controlled by natural food availability and nesting opportunities where they are made available.”
The Cumbrian White Tailed Eagle Project plans to gather the views of the public at events including a drop-in information session at the Lake District National Park Authority HQ in Kendal on Tuesday, October 29.
