El Annie
Phew..............
In today's conserv@tion - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm:
Alert over peregrine attackers............................
One of the most devastatingly beautiful birds of prey on earth is in danger of being persecuted to extinction in Wales. Farmers have been urged to report anything suspicious, particularly any findings of poisoned baits in an attempt to stop the persecution of the peregrine falcon. The peregrine which is the fast-est flying predator on earth is also one of the most persecuted birds in the UK and conservationists fears that the campaign will continue in the South Wales area during the current breeding season. In recent years the number of reported incidents against peregrines has been at their highest ever and South Wales is one of the hot spots in the UK for these cruel acts.
More information - icWales
British conservationists divided over duck cull..................
British bird lovers have been split over government plans to wipe out the country's population of ruddy ducks to save a Spanish relative from extinction. A final decision is expected yesterday to cull the ducks, which head south to Spain in winter where they mate with the genetically similar white-headed duck, producing a hybrid that dilutes the white-headed duck's gene pool. "We feel an international obligation to help save Spain's rare white-headed duck," Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said on Saturday. He said conservationists feared the cross-breeding would eventually lead to the extinction of the Spanish bird - one of the most threatened birds in mainland Europe and on a par with the Bengal tiger in its rarity.
More information -
Planet Ark
Scotsman
Protesters target island's black rat cull.....................
A protest is being staged against a cull of black rats on Lundy Island. Experts claimed the move was necessary to save the island's population of rare seabirds, but animal welfare groups disagree. Lundy, a granite outcrop in the Bristol Channel, is three-and-a-half miles long and half-a-mile wide. The island is a designated site of special scientific interest. Four conservation organisations, including English Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), began a cull of thousands of black rats last November. The rodents were running wild on the island after arriving on boats. Experts claimed that as many as 40,000 of the non-native vermin were feeding on birds' eggs and chicks - and the puffin and the Manx shearwater were rapidly being brought to the point of extinction.
More information - BBC
Alert over peregrine attackers............................
One of the most devastatingly beautiful birds of prey on earth is in danger of being persecuted to extinction in Wales. Farmers have been urged to report anything suspicious, particularly any findings of poisoned baits in an attempt to stop the persecution of the peregrine falcon. The peregrine which is the fast-est flying predator on earth is also one of the most persecuted birds in the UK and conservationists fears that the campaign will continue in the South Wales area during the current breeding season. In recent years the number of reported incidents against peregrines has been at their highest ever and South Wales is one of the hot spots in the UK for these cruel acts.
More information - icWales
British conservationists divided over duck cull..................
British bird lovers have been split over government plans to wipe out the country's population of ruddy ducks to save a Spanish relative from extinction. A final decision is expected yesterday to cull the ducks, which head south to Spain in winter where they mate with the genetically similar white-headed duck, producing a hybrid that dilutes the white-headed duck's gene pool. "We feel an international obligation to help save Spain's rare white-headed duck," Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said on Saturday. He said conservationists feared the cross-breeding would eventually lead to the extinction of the Spanish bird - one of the most threatened birds in mainland Europe and on a par with the Bengal tiger in its rarity.
More information -
Planet Ark
Scotsman
Protesters target island's black rat cull.....................
A protest is being staged against a cull of black rats on Lundy Island. Experts claimed the move was necessary to save the island's population of rare seabirds, but animal welfare groups disagree. Lundy, a granite outcrop in the Bristol Channel, is three-and-a-half miles long and half-a-mile wide. The island is a designated site of special scientific interest. Four conservation organisations, including English Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), began a cull of thousands of black rats last November. The rodents were running wild on the island after arriving on boats. Experts claimed that as many as 40,000 of the non-native vermin were feeding on birds' eggs and chicks - and the puffin and the Manx shearwater were rapidly being brought to the point of extinction.
More information - BBC
