THE death toll of 137 poisoned wedge-tailed eagles is likely to be closer to 400, following revelations those involved in killing the birds had been baiting them for the past 2½ years.

While authorities have recovered the remains of 137 eagles to date, the farmer who first alerted The Weekly Times of the mass poisoning said the carcasses of many more birds would never be found.

“The manager (of the Tubbut property) told me they’d poisoned them over 2½ years, and they’d piled up about 400,” the farmer said.

“After 2½ years they rot away to nothing or get dragged off (by scavengers).”

Last Friday, The Weekly Times contacted the owner of the Tubbut property on which the birds were poisoned, but he quickly hung up after he was asked about the eagles.

While rumours persist on how and why the eagles were poisoned, the key source in the case said it appeared sheep carcasses were wiped down with the banned sheep drench Luci-jet to kill the eagles.

Luci-jet is highly toxic to birds, with CSIRO research from 1985, stating “seven species of birds in Australia are highly sensitive to the organophosphorous insecticide”, including wedge-tailed eagles.

CSIRO researcher John McIlroy found “affected individuals lost their ability to stand or fly”, before convulsing.

Victorian Government investigators have executed search warrants on four properties around Tubbut and Orbost.