They will eventually put farms out of business
After more than a century of absence, the white-tailed eagle is being called back to British skies — this time over Exmoor, where up to twenty birds will be released beginning in summer 2026. The decision by Natural England represents the latest act in a long effort to restore what human hands once erased, yet it arrives carrying the weight of contested evidence and the lived grief of Scottish farmers who say the birds have cost them their livelihoods. As with so many moments when wildness is reintroduced into a working landscape, the approval asks an ancient question anew: whose vision of the land shall prevail, and who bears the cost of that answer.
- A bird extinct in Britain since 1918 is being deliberately returned to Exmoor, compressing a century of absence into a single government decision.
- Scottish farmers are sounding the alarm, with one fourth-generation farmer estimating he loses two-thirds of his lambs — roughly £30,000 a year — to eagle predation.
- A fundamental dispute remains unresolved: conservationists argue the eagles scavenge already-dead animals, while farmers insist they are killing healthy, living lambs.
- Farming representatives are demanding a full impact assessment and strong safeguards before releases proceed, warning that once the eagles are established and legally protected, farmers will have no recourse.
- Natural England has approved the scheme regardless, promising satellite tracking and close collaboration with landowners, but the approval itself signals that conservation ambition currently outweighs agricultural objection in official eyes.
The white-tailed eagle — Britain's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan approaching eight feet — will return to Exmoor this summer for the first time in over a century. Natural England approved the release of up to twenty birds across the national park over three years, each fitted with a satellite tag so researchers can monitor their spread. The species vanished from Britain entirely by 1918, driven out by habitat loss and deliberate killing. Its gradual comeback began in Scotland in 1975 and reached the Isle of Wight seven years ago; some birds have already drifted as far as Exmoor on their own.
But the formal approval has drawn fierce opposition from farming communities, especially those who have watched the eagles return in Scotland. Ricky Rennie, a fourth-generation farmer in Argyll, says he lost two-thirds of his lambs in 2024 alone — a blow he estimates at £30,000 a year. His warning to Exmoor farmers was unambiguous: fight the scheme with every means available, because the birds will eventually put farms out of business.
At the heart of the conflict lies a dispute neither side has resolved. Farmers say the eagles are killing healthy lambs; conservationists suggest the birds are largely scavenging carcasses. That uncertainty has become the fault line of the entire debate. Peter Delbridge, a sixth-generation Exmoor farmer and chairman of the National Sheep Association, voiced the deeper fear: once the eagles are established and legally protected, farmers will have no way to protect their flocks themselves. The National Farmers' Union Scotland urged that any Exmoor release must build in strong safeguards from the outset, learning from what Scotland has already endured.
Natural England insists the program will be carefully managed through collaboration with local landowners, and satellite data will track how the population develops. Yet the approval arrived despite farmer opposition — a signal, perhaps, of where official priorities lie. Whether Exmoor's farming community can find a workable coexistence with the returning eagles, or whether this becomes another chapter in the long conflict between conservation and rural livelihoods, remains an open and consequential question.
The white-tailed eagle—a bird with a wingspan of nearly eight feet and a pale head that whitens with age—will soon hunt over Exmoor again for the first time in more than a century. Natural England gave its approval this week to release up to twenty of these massive raptors across the national park over the next three years, beginning this summer. The birds are the UK's largest birds of prey, and their return marks another chapter in an ambitious but contentious effort to restore a species that vanished from Britain entirely by 1918, driven to extinction by habitat loss and deliberate killing.
The reintroduction scheme is not new. White-tailed eagles first came back to Scotland in 1975, released on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides. Since then, successive reintroduction programs have expanded their range. Seven years ago, birds were released on the Isle of Wight, and they have since drifted eastward along the south coast, occasionally spotted over Exmoor already. The new program will accelerate that natural expansion, with each released bird fitted with a satellite tag so researchers from Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation can track their movements and study how the population grows.
But the approval has ignited fierce resistance from farming communities, particularly those who have lived with the eagles' return in Scotland. Ricky Rennie, a fourth-generation farmer near Minard in Argyll, has been contending with white-tailed eagles since 2018. In 2024 alone, he estimates he lost two-thirds of his lambs to the birds—a loss he values at roughly thirty thousand pounds annually. He has become an unlikely voice of warning to farmers in the southwest. "If they're coming in naturally, there's not much you can do about it," he said, "but if they're trying to introduce them, I'd be fighting it tooth and nail—because they will eventually put farms out of business." His message to Exmoor farmers was blunt: resist the scheme with every tool at your disposal.
The dispute hinges on a fundamental disagreement between farmers and conservationists about what the eagles actually eat. Farmers insist the birds are killing healthy lambs and devastating their livelihoods. Conservationists and wildlife officials suggest the eagles may be scavenging carcasses of animals already dead. The truth remains contested, and that uncertainty has become the fault line in the debate. The National Sheep Association, which represents farming interests, has called for a full impact assessment before any more releases happen—one that accounts not just for economic losses but for the mental health toll on farmers watching their flocks diminish.
Peter Delbridge, a sixth-generation farmer on Exmoor and chairman of the National Sheep Association, articulated the deeper anxiety: "We don't want to reach the situation where the genie is out of the bottle and we're experiencing losses but because they are a protected bird we won't be able to deal with it ourselves." Once the eagles are established and legally protected, farmers will have little recourse. Andrew Connon, president of the National Farmers' Union Scotland, urged that any Exmoor release must learn from the Scottish experience and build in "strong safeguards for livestock from the outset."
Natural England insists the reintroduction will be "carefully planned" and grounded in collaboration with local landowners. Matthew Heard, the agency's national delivery director, described the approved license as evidence of what can be achieved when "ambitious partnerships, good science and positive engagement come together." The agency has committed to closely monitoring how the program unfolds. Yet the very fact that the approval came despite farmer opposition suggests that the weight of conservation ambition may outbalance the weight of agricultural concern—at least in the eyes of government wildlife authorities.
What happens next will depend partly on whether the eagles behave as conservationists predict or as Scottish farmers fear. The satellite tags will provide data. But data alone may not resolve a conflict that is ultimately about competing visions of land use and whose interests the landscape should serve. For now, the birds are coming. The question is whether Exmoor's farming community will find ways to coexist with them, or whether the reintroduction will become another chapter in the long history of conflict between conservation and rural livelihoods.
Citações Notáveis
If they're coming in naturally, there's not much you can do about it, but if they're trying to introduce them, I'd be fighting it tooth and nail—because they will eventually put farms out of business.— Ricky Rennie, Scottish farmer
We don't want to reach the situation where the genie is out of the bottle and we're experiencing losses but because they are a protected bird we won't be able to deal with it ourselves.— Peter Delbridge, National Sheep Association chairman and Exmoor farmer
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why approve this now, when Scottish farmers are already reporting such heavy losses?
Because the eagles are already coming naturally—they've been drifting down from the Isle of Wight for years. The government sees the reintroduction as inevitable, so they're choosing to manage it deliberately rather than let it happen by accident.
But that seems to dismiss what's actually happening to farmers like Ricky Rennie.
It does, in a way. The conservationists argue he may be misattributing losses—that some of those lambs were already dead when the eagles found them. But Rennie has no reason to lie about his own losses, and the disagreement itself is the problem. Nobody really knows the true scale.
So why not wait for better evidence before releasing more birds?
Because waiting means the eagles spread naturally anyway, without any monitoring or management structure. At least with a planned release, every bird has a satellite tag. They can track what's actually happening.
That's a gamble on Exmoor farmers, though.
It is. And that's why Delbridge and others are so anxious about the "genie in the bottle"—once they're protected, there's no taking it back. The farmers lose their ability to respond if things go badly.
What would a true compromise look like?
Probably compensation schemes, livestock guardian dogs, better fencing—the things the National Farmers' Union is asking for. But those cost money, and they only work if the eagles actually are killing live lambs. If they're mostly scavenging, the farmers are spending to solve a problem that isn't really there.