Livestock farmers fear sea eagle threat to lambs

With lambing time approaching, frustration has boiled over among farmers and crofters on Scotland’s west coast over what they are claiming is the lack of real progress towards measures designed to protect vulnerable livestock from attacks by white-tailed eagles.

And yesterday NFU Scotland fired a warning shot across NatureScot’s bows, demanding that “substantive action” was taken to deliver a meaningful programme which would protect livestock from predation.

Claiming that some farmers and crofters had endured decades of stock losses due to the eagles, the union claimed that not enough was being done to address key issues and deliver the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan by the Scotland’s nature agency, NatureScot.

In a formal complaint to the environmental body- which formerly operated as Scottish Natural Heritage - the union has demanded that a meaningful suite of actions is rolled out across the areas that continue to be severely impacted by WTE predation.

Union president, Martin Kennedy said that when the union had entered a joint agreement with NatureScot in 2014 promising action on white-tailed eagles farmers and crofters had been optimistic that careful management of the white-tailed eagle population would create a balanced, sustainable environment to allow the eagles and livestock to co-exist.

However Kennedy said there had been little progress to date particularly in relation to the management of the birds – nd called for urgent action.

He said that a number of elements in the action plan needed to be prioritised and progressed under the framework of the revised White-tailed Eagle Action Plan 2021-2024.

The union also expressed its disappointment that some members of the National Sea Eagle Stakeholder Group had undermined the collaborative approach by repeatedly glossing over the hard facts that in places white-tailed eagles continued to cause significant agricultural damage through predation – and called for all to better communicate the very real impacts which white-tailed eagles had on many farms and crofts ‘across a vast swathe’ of Scotland:

“We are looking to NatureScot to demonstrate genuine commitment to making the necessary progress for farmers and crofters living with white-tailed eagles and we remain determined to support where we can,” said Kennedy.

A spokesperson for NatureScot said that the organisation understood the concerns of farmers and crofters, and would continue to work closely with them to offer management support and to trial management techniques aimed at reducing negative impacts.

She said that the reintroduction of the birds had benefited tourism but admitted that in some locations, sea eagles impacted farming and crofting by predating lambs.

An extended Action Plan for the next three years is also due to be published shortly aimed at addressing the issues raised in the union’s letter.

Following consultation with the industry the sea eagle management scheme was revised significantly in 2020 to offer more flexibility and an increased level of support to those affected by sea eagle predation – and last year, the scheme supported farmers and crofters through management agreements worth over £190,000 for measures such as enhanced shepherding.