Sea eagle killer suspected on Funen

Three birds discovered in past week; authorities suspect they were poisoned

Three sea eagles have been found dead on Funen just south of Svendborg.

It is suspected they have been poisoned by the same individual, and their deaths follow what appeared to be the deliberate killing of a kite in the same area of Denmark in the spring.

The  birds sustained no external damage, and there is nothing to suggest that their deaths were caused by traffic or power lines.

Not the way of the wild
The first of the dead birds of prey was found last week on Wednesday, and then another two were discovered on Monday. 

Two of them were not yet fully developed, while the other was registered as part of a breeding pair in the area.

“It’s completely unacceptable,” Kim Skelmose, the head of the Danish Ornithological Society’s ‘Project Eagle’ taskforce, told DR. “This is not the way of the wild to poison wildlife in this way.”

Appeal to police
An autopsy revealed that the kite poisoned in the spring was killed with the illegal insecticide carbofuran, and Skelmose suspects the same individual is responsible. 

The eagle discovered last week has been sent to the DTU to be examined.

“I hope and expect that the police take this case seriously,” said Skelmose. 

In 2016, carbofuran was used to kill seven sea eagles and several kestrels, golden eagles and red kites near Smørum in northern Zealand.