Remarkable photograph of eagle carrying a helpless lamb sparks fear among farmers

It is a rare and remarkable image: an eagle soaring in the air with a helpless lamb dangling from its talons. Soon though, according to fearful farmers, it could be a common sight.

This amateur photograph, taken on the Isle of Mull, sparked a row over plans to reintroduce wild sea eagles to England's south coast.

Farming groups said the picture proved the giant birds were a threat to livestock, and claimed they could even attack household pets.

“These are dangerous predators,” one said. “They shouldn’t be anywhere near people, or their animals.”

The photograph was taken by Douglas Currie, while on holiday on the Isle of Mull with his wife.

Mr Currie, 74, from Loanhead, MIdlothian, said: “We saw this big shape through the sky and my wife thought it was a fish.

“We then realised it was a lamb and I rattled off a load of shots. The bird was struggling. It’s the most extraordinary sight.”

With a wingspan of up to eight feet and a beak resembling a meat cleaver, sea eagles are sometimes referred to as “flying barn doors”.

They were once widespread throughout the British Isles but had declined by 90 per cent by the time of the Industrial Revolution. The last bird was shot in 1918.



In the 1970s, however, they were reintroduced in Scotland, and have since flourished. There are currently 130 breeding pairs, and the population is predicted to soar to 700 pairs by 2040.

Their revival has come at a cost, however. Crofters have complained at lambs going missing, and of bloodied corpses found miles from home. Others have found animals with their eyes pecked out, and limbs ripped off. According to one report, the sea eagles have even developed a taste for their smaller cousins, golden eagles.

Colin Cameron, 47, who farms 2,500 ewes on the Ardnarmurchan peninsula, told the Press and Journal: “One lamb was killed, but the other has a hole in its side after a sea eagle tried to take it.

“It is still alive as I had to feed it through a tube three times a day. It is on penicillin to stop any infection, so I can’t let it outside, but generally we don’t find any alive.”


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/09/remarkable-photograph-eagle-carrying-helpless-lamb-sparks-fear/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget

Some of those bludging dirt-lazy hill shepherds shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a farm...

Let alone insulting the rest of us by calling themseves "farmers"..

Too lazy and drunk to take proper care of their sheep, so look for predators to blame.

That Wolfie is total and utter Bollocks !

My buddy had a Chihuahua get carried off by a hawk. Unfortunately for him, the damn bird dropped it about a half mile away and the mean little dog survived.

Maddog wrote:My buddy had a Chihuahua get carried off by a hawk. Unfortunately for him, the damn bird dropped it about a half mile away and the mean little dog survived.

lol, I take it, you dont like his dog?

phildidge wrote:

Maddog wrote:My buddy had a Chihuahua get carried off by a hawk. Unfortunately for him, the damn bird dropped it about a half mile away and the mean little dog survived.

lol, I take it, you dont like his dog?

He didn't.

I didn't have to live with it.