Chris Loder MP and the eagles (1) – a quick poll

Last week, following the news that two White-tailed Eagles from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project had been found dead, and an appeal from Dorset Police for information, Chris Loder MP took to Twitter to declare that ‘Dorset is not the place for eagles to be reintroduced’. He also stated that he’d prefer Dorset Police to focus on issues other than potential wildlife crime. Following widespread public criticism, Mr Loder doubled-down on his viewpoint, going on to accuse eagles of ‘killing our lambs and plaguing our farmers’.

Mr Loder is entitled to have whatever views he wants on the matter of White-tailed Eagles (although his statements included inaccuracies which should have been checked) but his remarks exemplify the intolerance which is shown all too often to wildlife in our country.  Whenever conservationists seek to restore lost wildlife there seems to be an uproar, whether it be White-tailed Eagles, Pine Martens, Beavers or even restoring woodlands or wetlands. Mr Loder is not alone in his views and, in a strange way, he has done us all a favour by voicing them so publicly.

So here is a quick and easy way you can voice your views. Yesterday evening we launched a simple poll on Twitter asking whether you welcome White-tailed Eagles or not – over 1000 responses have been received overnight with overwhelming support for eagles  – please add your voice in their favour here – the more the better. Thank you!

We’ll come back to this issue later today.

Wild Justice is entirely dependent on donations. To support our work – click here. To hear more about our campaigns and legal cases subscribe to our free newsletter – click here.