Eaglets are a staged show

Published on Sunday 14 September 2008 21:25

I was pleased to hear about the two eaglets that were successfully raised near the Beinn an Tuirc wind farm (your report, 8 September)

This is the first breeding success at this site in 11 years. The parent eagles must have been pampered with plenty of live rabbits to make sure this would happen. All in all, two million pounds have been spent to produce a "success story" at Beinn an Tuirc. So much money is at stake here: the approval of hundreds of wind farms where eagles fly, in Scotland and in the world, hinge upon this kind of favourable publicity.

But can we rely on the authorities to tell us the bad news as well? For instance, SNH hasn't told us about the eagles that were killed in a radio tracking experiment at a future wind farm site (Beinn Ghlas). They haven't told us about the white tailed eagle found dead near a wind turbine on the island of Pabay, and about a few more eagles that disappeared or died at wind farm sites in Scotland.

Given this track record, can we really expect them to tell us if/when these two eaglets get killed when they start to investigate the neighbourhood, and meet the turbine blades?

My feeling is that the two-million-quid chicks are part of a puppet show for the gullible.

DAVID BLUM

Av du Marchal-Juin

Toulouse, France