Finland grants permits to hunt protected eagle

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Permits to hunt six white-tailed sea eagles are being granted. /Andreas Weith/wikimedia commons

A Finnish island is issuing permits to hunt an eagle protected under EU law in order to save other endangered seabirds.

According to a local government official, permits to hunt six white-tailed sea eagles are being granted between now and June 9 on the Finnish island Lagskar. The species is protected within the European Union.

The island forms part of the autonomous and demilitarized group of Aland islands. The area belongs to the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected areas for flora and fauna.

Through the cull, the local government on Aland aims to protect endangered eiders - a kind of sea duck - that nest on the island.

After failed attempts to stop the eagles preying on the eiders, the local government has issued permits to hunt them for a second year in a row.

According to Jesper Josefsson, the Aland government's economy and environment minister: "The aim is not to reduce the eagle population but to protect the eider in this restricted area during a limited time period."

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A similar decision last year led to the killing of three eagles. Josefsson said the long-term aim was to make the eagles "start avoiding the area."

Finland is the only EU country that allows the killing of the white-tailed sea eagle, listed as a "flagship species" for nature conservation under EU law.

The white-tailed sea eagle was almost extinct in the Baltic Sea area in the 1970s, but has recovered since through conservation efforts.