An emergency plan is being drawn up to save the capercaillie, one of the UK’s most elusive and threatened woodland birds, after its numbers plunged. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the latest population survey found its estimated population had fallen from roughly 1,114 in 2015/16 to about 542 birds last winter, […]
Tag: Severin Carrell
Calls to ban gamebird release to avoid ‘catastrophic’ avian flu outbreak
Conservationists have called for ministers to ban the release of millions of gamebirds to prevent the UK’s wild birds being wiped out by a “catastrophic” avian flu epidemic this winter. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said there was a significant risk that pheasants, partridge and ducks released for shooting from 1 […]
Record £26,000 reward for conviction as raptor deaths in Highlands rise to 19
Rewards totalling £26,000 have been offered by Scottish bird lovers and landowners for the conviction of the perpetrators of one of the UK’s largest mass poisonings of protected birds of prey. The rare alliance between landowners and ornithologists emerged on Wednesday as Police Scotland said the total number of birds killed had increased to 19, […]
Scottish bird of prey colony hit by mass poisonings
Bird experts believe that one of the UK’s most valued bird of prey colonies is being targeted after 16 raptors were found dead from poisoning in a small area of the Highlands. The bodies of 12 red kites and four buzzards have been recovered over the past two weeks within a two-square-mile area on the […]
Fishing ban proposed near Rockall after rare scientific finds
Fishing is expected to be banned near the Atlantic islet of Rockall after a rare methane gas vent in the seabed and two new shellfish species were discovered by British scientists. The methane, which leaks through a so-called “cold seep” vent in the ocean floor, was found last year by scientists working with the government […]