Calls for sea eagle cull as lambs being ‘torn limb from limb’
An MP says numbers of the raptors, which were extinct in Britain before they were brought back in the 1970s, were now ‘out of control’
Calls for sea eagle cull as lambs being ‘torn limb from limb’
An MP says numbers of the raptors, which were extinct in Britain before they were brought back in the 1970s, were now ‘out of control’
That was morbidly funny.
They could always dye the lambs to camouflage them. White does stand out.
I think that there is a similar problem with Red Kites.
Introduce another alpha predator. Lions might scare the critters off.
Why not go the whole hog and introduce condors in the Highlands?
Remarkable bird, the condor. Beautiful plumage.
Did they ‘go extinct’ due to earlier generations of farmers killing the things…….because their lambs were being ‘torn limb from limb’?
Now then, this idea of re-introducing wolves into the wild in the UK. What could possibly go wrong?
It’s behind a paywall, so can’t see which MP it is that’s calling for this.
But then, *shrugs* they are all hypocrites and idiots anyway.
What does he expect, the sea eagles to take the lamb to the abattoir and then have it cut into convenient joints to put in the freezer?
Lions. In old Polish MIG-29s.
I remember, when I were little, the dearth of birds of prey was a big enviro theme.
I wonder how much of the dearth then, and obvious excess now, is just part of rather long-term ecologically-determined waves in population, and nothing to do with eeevil humans despoiling mother nature.
Ottokring,
We were living in the Chilterns when the Red Kites were reintroduced. We had a talk from Natural England about them and how the project was going to be implemented.
They explained that Red Kites are lazy and will live off road kill and other carcasses. Only out of desperation would they go for lambs, small cats and other small animals. They asked us not to feed them as they would become overstocked.
Unfortunately that request was ignored and quite a few people did feed them, including a neighbour who used to buy off meat from butchers. They became a pest by the time we left nearly 12 years ago.
AFAIK, the Sea Eagle occupies pretty much the same ecological niche as the vulture.
It prefers carrion, energy output/ input is most favourable for scoffing that dead fish on the beach or dead lamb in a field cos it doesn’t run away.
There are approx 150 pairs in a country the size of the UK- file under not a problem, thick MP should concentrate on findng ways to get govt out of the way of recovery from a great recession.
The Sea Eagles have been on Mull for 20+ years, the only farming possible there is sheep & no problems reported.
BiND
That tallies with friends who live in Bucks and Berks. I would sit in their respective gardens and say “Ooh a Kite !”
Came the universal response ” They’re a blody nuisance, we constantly have to watch the dog/cat/ baby out in the garden.”
lambs being ‘torn limb from limb’
How else are they to be eaten? Swallowed whole? We’d have to reintroduce the Roc for that.
We were living in the Chilterns when the Red Kites were reintroduced. We had a talk from Natural England about them and how the project was going to be implemented.
They explained that Red Kites are lazy and will live off road kill and other carcasses. Only out of desperation would they go for lambs, small cats and other small animals. They asked us not to feed them as they would become overstocked.
Unfortunately that request was ignored and quite a few people did feed them, including a neighbour who used to buy off meat from butchers. They became a pest by the time we left nearly 12 years ago.
I’m in the Chilterns and BiND is correct. Unlike buzzards, kites are pretty much incapable of taking live prey much larger than an earthworm. They may look fearsome, but I’ve seen kites sitting by the bloated body of a dead rabbit, waiting for a more powerful predator that could open the body cavity.
Because people insist on feeding them (a few dozen of them diving into your garden for butcher’s scraps is an undeniably impressive sight), they are becoming habituated to humans, and like seagulls they’re not above trying to pinch your sandwich at a picnic.