SIX young white-tailed eagles which were secretly released on Exmoor in August are doing well, but are still depending on humans for their food, a spokesperson for the project said.

Commonly known as sea eagles, the birds have returned to Exmoor after an absence of more than 200 years under a scheme run by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Forestry England, and the national park authority.

The spokesperson said: “The process has followed natural fledging as much as possible with some birds coming back to near the original release site to be fed.

“Until they are fully fledged, these birds are being fed on small mammals like rabbit and grey squirrel, fish like carp, grey mullet, and cuttlefish, and corvids like crows.”