Three red kites which were found dead near Lusk, North County Dublin are thought to have been poisoned, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has said.
Expressing his disgust on hearing the birds which had recently been released in the area had probably been poisoned, the Minister said he was appalled to hear of this kind of behaviour.
In July this year, 26 young red kites, were collected under licence from wild nests in Wales, and released in Newbridge Demesne with a further 13 young red kites released shortly thereafter from a private location in north Fingal.
A full postmortem on the birds has yet to be completed but the Minister said it was most likely the birds had been poisoned.
“I am appalled when I hear of this type of behaviour. We have been working closely with the Golden Eagle Trust to maintain Ireland's biodiversity, with widespread public support,” he said.
“It is extremely disheartening to learn of this sort of activity when nothing can be gained from these types of actions. I can assure those taking part in such illegal and futile actions that they will become the target of the staff of the NPWS and every effort will be made to establish and prosecute those responsible,” he concluded.
The announcement of more poisoned birds of prey came as BirdWatch Ireland launched an appeal for funding to prevent the needless loss of raptors which are an essential component of a functioning naturally balanced.
Called “A Wing and A Prayer” BirdWatch said the most sinister and shameful threat to our raptors came from poisoning and persecution, which had devastated raptor populations, even forcing several species into extinction in Ireland.
“BirdWatch Ireland was instrumental in integrating changes to the poisoning legislation in 2010, to afford greater protection to birds of prey. However, further action is imperative. Despite now being totally against the law, in 2011 BirdWatch Ireland recorded more poisoning incidents than ever before,” it said.
It said the funds would be used to expand its current monitoring and research programme, support volunteer raptor wardens in targeted field studies and focus survey work to establish baseline information for the under-studied species.
Funds would also provide safe and secure nesting sites for key species, with nest boxes, baskets and platforms, ensure better protection of nesting sites of sensitive and endangered species and to continue research to determine the impacts of rat poisons on raptor populations.
In addition to a programme of advocacy and education funding would be used to continue active lobbying to stamp out illegal poisoning and for better enforcement of the law.