Exmoor White-tailed Eagle Information Event – Tuesday 21st January 2025, Exford Village Hall, 6-8pm

As part of the continued plans to reintroduce White-tailed eagles across the South of England you are invited to have your say in this public perception survey on White-tailed eagles being reintroduced to Exmoor.

The link to the survey is here Exmoor National Park Supports Sea Eagles | Exmoor Link to the survey https://forms.office.com/e/faPyJW3C96

Also the details of the open evening on the 21st of Jan. Details shown below.

Exmoor White-tailed Eagle Information Event – Tuesday 21st January 2025, Exford Village Hall, 6-8pm

Exmoor National Park Authority would like to invite you to a White-tailed Eagle information event from 6-8pm on Tuesday 21st January at Exford Village Hall.  This is an opportunity to meet Zoe Smith and Tim Mackrill from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation who will be giving a presentation about the project proposal and a chance for questions and informal discussions with project staff.

As part of its wider work around nature recovery, Exmoor National Park Authority is working to support the White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction Programme in southern England, which is led by Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England. Following the release of 37 birds on the Isle of Wight over the last 5 years, 7 White-tailed Eagles have been spending time on Exmoor showing that it offers very suitable habitat.  White-tailed Eagles are very loyal to where they have grown up and are only likely to breed within 60km of their nest site. So we now hope to reinforce the establishing southern population with a small-scale release of juvenile White-tailed Eagles on Exmoor. The Exmoor coast with its large areas of woodland provides perfect breeding habitat for the birds, which prefer to breed close to areas where they can catch fish, which is their favoured food.

The project, if it was to go ahead, would involve the release of up to 20 birds over a three-year period which may result in around 2 pairs eventually settling on Exmoor as only 35-45% of those 20 birds will reach adulthood. All released White-tailed Eagles are fitted with satellite tags so it is possible to track their daily movements in detail. The diet of the White-tailed Eagles released on the Isle of Wight has been monitored very closely since the first birds were released in 2019. This has showed that fish such as grey mullet is their favoured food, and there have been no cases of predation of livestock.

Since the first White-tailed Eagle visited Exmoor three and a half years ago in June 2021, we have been doing 1:1 visits with landowners and shoots across the National Park particularly focussing on the areas where the eagles have chosen to spend time. We have found that these face-to-face visits have been very helpful in terms of explaining more about the birds and allaying any concerns, particularly important during even more challenging times for the farming community.  As part of our wider engagement work,  last November we ran two very successful drop-in events which were open to all with staff from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England with around 300 people attending. 

The information event on the 21st January is an opportunity to learn more about the project.  Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you.  No booking is required and if you have any questions about the event, please contact seaeagle@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk.