Hundreds of birds, including protected wedge-tailed eagles, have been found dead in a suspected poisoning in eastern Victoria.

A farmer in the area, who did not want to be named, said up to 180 dead eagles and hundreds of carcasses of other native animals had been found on the property at Tubbut, near the NSW border, last month.

He said the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) had been tipped off by a former employee.

A spokesman from DELWP said an investigation into the deaths was underway.

"No charges have been laid," he said.

"DELWP is taking this matter very seriously."

Wedge-tailed eagles are Australia's biggest bird of prey.

They often cause headaches for farmers who believe they kill newborn lambs.

Last August a number of threatened white-bellied sea eagles were fatally poisoned near the town of Bairnsdale.

Carcasses of four wedge-tailed eagles were also found in the Black Range State Forest last June.

Another local landholder near Tubbut, who also did not want to be named, said they were shocked, but added that eagles had become a big issue for sheep farmers.

"[The eagles] have been a major topic of conversation, we raised it with the department," they said.

Eagles 'targeted' with animal traps



East Gippsland wildlife carer Rena Gaborov said eagles played an important role in the ecosystem, and farmers who considered killing them were in the minority.

"They take a lot of dead animals and if they don't scavenge there'd be a lot of dead animals sitting in paddocks rotting," she said.

"This is a practice that's been going on for a really long time, so these people who do this… they get away with it."

Ms Gaborov first realised someone was targeting eagles when she saw one with an animal trap attached to its leg.

"People had set these on their fence posts for eagles, and this eagle had got caught in one," she said.

"It was flying around with this trap on its leg. We tried to catch it but couldn't, and eventually it came down and had to be euthanised."

Wedge-tailed eagles are protected under the Wildlife Act.

Anyone found responsible for deliberately killing one faces up to six months in jail and a fine of $7,900, with an additional fine of $792 for each bird killed.