Exmoor was selected as the release site after tracking data revealed that several reintroduced white-tailed eagles had repeatedly visited the area.
White-tailed eagles once bred along the Exmoor coastline. The region still offers excellent foraging opportunities, with plentiful fish, as well as suitable nesting and breeding habitat for these native birds.
Earlier this year, six young white-tailed eagles were collected from the wild in Scotland under a licence issued by NatureScot before being transported to Exmoor.
Zoe Smith, from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said: “We are restoring a native species that should be present in this landscape but was previously lost from it.
“A lengthy consultation process takes place before we are granted a licence.”
She added that the conservation programme takes only one chick from each nest at a time. The young eagles are also screened for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, before being released on Exmoor.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk