The proposition to release White-tailed Eagles in Cumbria has been knocking around for a number of years now (e.g. see this feasibility report from 2022).
The Cumbrian White-tailed Eagle Project is being overseen by a credible steering group comprising the University of Cumbria, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, The Lifescape Project, RSPB, the Wildland Institute, the Lake District National Park Authority alongside local estate owners and managers.
According to the steering group, research has indicated that Cumbria has sufficient suitable habitat to support a population of White-tailed Eagles and the county is considered an important strategic location to encourage links between other populations in Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland and the south of England.
The group is conducting a social feasibility study, ‘to help us to understand attitudes and values, and the anticipated impacts of a potential white-tailed eagle reintroduction in Cumbria‘.
A questionnaire is available and is aimed at ‘individuals living in Cumbria and the surrounding area’. A further questionnaire for organisations is anticipated in the near future.
This isn’t the first survey of attitudes towards the release of White-tailed Eagles in Cumbria – it seems to be the latest in a long line (e.g. see here and here).
Whilst I’d welcome the sight of White-tailed Eagles in the Lake District, I do have reservations about this project (i.e. one of the requirements to justify the translocation of a species is that the species in question shouldn’t be able to get there of its own accord, e.g. through natural expansion of the population – see more commentary from me here). However, I applaud the project’s openness, transparency, and willingness to consult the public.
Not everyone is supportive of the proposed translocation, for very different reasons to mine. In response to the previous public consultations, the usual fact-free hysteria was whipped up about the supposed threat posed by the eagles to lambs and babies.
More recently, in response to the latest public consultation, this poster was on display at the Millom & Broughton Agricultural Show in the Lake District in August, from the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association (thanks to a blog reader for sending it in):
This level of ignorance and ‘anti-eagle’ views in the UK, often promoted by idiotic journalists, is probably why so many of our native raptors continue to be illegally killed. It’s as if the last 50 years of successful raptor conservation projects never happened to those with this Victorian mindset.
The recent accusations that White-tailed Eagles ‘ate five Shetland ponies’ on South Uist recently is a perfect example. I’ll write more about that ludicrous claim shortly but it’s interesting to note that the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association chose to include it on this poster.
If you’re local to Cumbria or the surrounding area, or even if you’re a visitor to the Lake District, please consider filling in the questionnaire to provide a more balanced and informed view. Closing date is Friday 31 Oct 2025.