Residents and hobby farmers on the outskirts of Brisbane have been warned to protect their animals and pets after a series of wedge-tailed eagle attacks.

Experts say the attacks follow the inevitable creep of suburbia into areas inhabited by Australia’s largest bird of prey as well as an increasing wedge-tailed population.

The owner of an animal rescue farm has blamed wedge-tailed eagles for attacks on animals on her property at Upper Brookfield, 16km west of Brisbane.

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Alison Bosscher told Quest Newspapers that 10 of her animals, including chickens and ducks, had either been savaged or disappeared in recent months.

An eagle had even attacked and fatally injured a two-week-old goat while a week-old lamb had been clawed through the head but survived.

“There’s definitely a problem with them … we’ve lost quite a few animals, and there are a few others that have just disappeared,” Mrs Bosscher said.

“Now we don’t have any little animals exposed. We’ve had to cover things up or keep them caged.”

A cunning predator

The wedge-tailed eagle is a protected native species in all states. With a wingspan of more than 2.5m and a distinctive wedge-shaped tail, the eagle circles over wide areas by soaring on thermal air currents, reaching altitudes of up to 2000 metres.

Local pest control expert Glen Alchin told The New Daily that he had received a lot of complaints from people on Brisbane’s western outskirts who had lost poultry as well as baby lambs and goats to wedge-tailed eagles.

He described the wedge-tailed eagle as “a very big, smart bird” that was constantly on the look out for prey.

However, people could reduce the risk of an attack by taking precautions with their small animals.

“It’s just a matter of people ensuring their animals and pets are secure from any wedge-tailed attack,” he said.

“If you tether a young goat in an open position and it’s there every day, well then you are looking for trouble from a wedge-tailed.

“All people have to do is put a roof on the chicken pen or not free range them  at certain times of the day … there is plenty of opportunity for people and wedge-taileds to co-exist quite easily in suburbia.”

Mr Alchin, director of Pest Animal Management Queensland, said the wedge-tailed eagle was “definitely back in good numbers” on Brisbane’s western outskirts.

He said the wedge-tailed population in the area fell away 10 years ago when they became the inadvertent victims of baiting for wild dogs.

However, since restrictions were introduced on the use of strychnine poison for baits,  young birds were moving back again.

“In fact, everywhere I go in South East Queensland I am definitely seeing more of them so I think they are on the comeback all round,” Mr Alchin said.

Perhaps an unwarranted fear

History shows that the wedge-tailed eagle has been one of Australia’s most persecuted animal species.

It was once considered a menace by farmers, who thought they were predators after seeing the birds scavenging already dead animals.

As a result, bounties were offered and thousands of eagles were shot and poisoned, especially last century.

University of New England animal behaviour expert Dr Paul McDonald said the wedge-tailed eagle, which ate both live prey and carrion, had been given “a bad wrap” when being blamed for the killing of farm animals.

The eagle did have the ability to “take just about any vertebrate” including reptiles, birds and even quite large mammals, such as kangaroos, when working together in a group. They were also known to often attack sick or injured lambs.

“But the actual number of animals they are removing from the population certainly doesn’t justify the persecution they have had,” he said.

“A lot of the records were falsely attributed to the eagle as a primary predator.”

Watch the wedge-tails strike