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It’s been a mixed month for comebacks. First, Kanye West was announced as Wireless festival’s headliner for his first UK performance in over a decade but was instead banned from the country, resulting in the scrapping of the entire event. Then Justin Bieber headlined Coachella, marking his first major appearance since he cancelled his 2022 tour due to ill-health, and divided fans by singing along to YouTube videos of himself.
So we could do with a comeback we can all agree on – like, for example, the golden eagle. The majestic bird will be hoping to have a more universally successful comeback than Biebs and Ye as it prepares for its grand return to the UK, more than a decade since the last English native of the species reportedly died alone in the Lake District in 2015.
That’s because Forestry England has released a study explaining that England can provide an hospitable habitat to the majestic creatures once more. The birds became essentially extinct in the country by the middle of the last century after being targeted by gamekeepers and farmers, who viewed them as a pest that threatened livestock. Just a few pairs have been identified in the country over the last 150 years.
Forestry England has identified eight areas – mostly in the north – where the golden eagle could now live. These are:
- The Cheviots
- The North Pennines
- The Lake District
- The Yorkshire Dales
- Bowland
- The South Pennines
- The North Yorkshire Moors
- The South-west
The Environment Secretary, Emma Reynolds, has announced an additional £1m in funding for a scheme to help the birds on their way. Juveniles, aged six to eight weeks, could be released as early as next year.
While the birds have been wiped out in England and Wales, a 2015 national survey found that there were around 500 breeding pairs in Scotland. The species is present in a much smaller capacity in Ireland thanks to conservation work that began in 2001.
The charity Restoring Upland Nature will work with Forestry England to lead a public consultation into the birds’ reintroduction to England. Restoring Upland Nature’s CEO Dr Cat Barlow said: ‘The first thing will be talking to the people who live and work in that landscape: the gamekeepers, the shooting estates, the farmers, the foresters… But there are a lot of steps to go through. We're not rushing into this; the key is to do it properly.’
The golden eagle might be struggling, but the number of false widows spiders is on the rise across the country.
Plus: The Lake District's Ullswater is the world’s 6th most beautiful place
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