Ruddy Duck cull begins

Neal Keeling

November 02, 2007

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Cull requested by Spanish government

THE controversial cull of a colony of Ruddy Ducks has started.

More than 100 ducks which live on flashes owned by Wigan Council are to be slaughtered at the request of the Spanish government.

Britain ordered a nationwide cull of the species in 2003 after Spain complained that the birds were mating with Spanish White Headed Ducks, threatening their existence.

Yesterday, marksmen hired by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs arrived at dawn at Pearson's Flash and began shooting at the ducks from a boat. They had been given permission by the council to go on to the land.

Within a couple of hours demonstrators were at the waterside trying to disrupt the cull.

Wigan councillor Peter Franzen, leader of the Community Action Party, was among the protesters.

He said: "It is outrageous. The night before the cull, I asked the leader of the council at a meeting if he knew when it was due to start. He claimed he did not know, and added that if he did, he would not tell me or the public on health and safety grounds."

Cynical

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, Britain's largest animal rights group, said: "This is a cynical, vicious and pointless exercise in slaughter. The hybridisation is no longer happening. As the winters in the UK have got warmer, Ruddy Ducks are not flying to Spain.

"But too many established organisations, like the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, now support the cull.

"In trial culls of Ruddy Ducks elsewhere in the country, birds took up to two hours to die, and other birds were shot too."

Greater Manchester's bird recorder Judith Smith said that White Headed Duck population in Spain had recovered from a reported 22 in 1977 to about 4,000.

She said that even if a handful of Ruddy Ducks did get to Spain from Britain they were unlikely to breed with the indigenous species as female White Headed Ducks now had plenty of potential mates.

The nationwide cull is funded by the government and the European Union with £3.3m being provided until 2010.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs statement said: "Ruddy Duck control is taking place in France, Belgium and Spain, but without action in the UK to eradicate the source population their actions may prove futile and the future of the White Headed Duck bleak."

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wayneold, manc (02/11/2007 at 10:08)

Does that mean ASDA will start selling the aromatic duck legs again?

They were so tasty!

Guten Tag (02/11/2007 at 10:21)

I'm lost at why a cull was needed. £3.3 million would have provided an alternative. The ducks could have been caught very early on in the year here in the North West and taken to holding pens down in the South of England (warmer in winter), and held there until next year, thus breaking the cycle of migrating. But I suppose a .22 bullet is a quicker and cheaper method? I wonder who benefited from the £3.3 million?

Jules in Cadishead, Cadishead (02/11/2007 at 12:01)

It's all very well to be concerned about the existence of the Spanish White Headed Ducks, but what about the existence of the poor old ruddy duck? Will this reduce their numbers so dramatically that they then face extinction? How do they come to the £3.3million for this pointless exercise? The EU has once again proved what has been suspected/known for years - the whole European Union ideal has definitely gone quackers!!

Blue Ape With A Drum (02/11/2007 at 12:23)

Spot on Guten Tag,sadly people cull animals as the easy quick fix option to such issues as these.Its very sad.What I cant understand is why Wigan needed to follow this bird equivalent of a racial purity programme?

ace, manchester (02/11/2007 at 12:43)

Surely this is nature? if these ducks have decided to fly to britain and the weather is suitable,thats nature surely.Or is it that old addage "Man getting involved with nature again"

S P In exile, Tameside (02/11/2007 at 12:58)

The introduction of the grey squirrel into this country has been a big mistake in this country maybe this is the Spaniards way of preventing our mistake.

david mather, wigan (02/11/2007 at 13:17)

If this is a bad thing, why are the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (which runs Martin Mere bird sanctuary), the British Trust for Ornithology and just about every other UK bird organisation in favour of a cull?

ace, manchester (03/11/2007 at 16:05)

Why is it mans answer to everything is to destroy it?? Lets for once use our heads and work with nature for once...I hate humans and how they think..

GWYN JONES, holywell (04/11/2007 at 00:40)

Distribute them to the poor so they can have a decent meal.

lebist, Blackley (04/11/2007 at 11:14)

Ace your last posting has confirmed my suspisions about you.Could you now let us know what planet your from?

ace, manchester (04/11/2007 at 12:37)

lebist, Blackley
I dont know why you say this? Most animals are hybrid .its nature mate ?That is how species survive its time that humans worked that out.Instead of trying to destroy everything all the time because it dosnt suit "How we think things should be" CONTROL OF NATURE.

BluePolarBear, ex of Stockport (04/11/2007 at 21:06)

I often disagree with Ace,but his heart is always in the right place.In this case frustration with the destructiveness of the human race is spot on.Look at these birds,they are beautiful,they weren't introduced artificially to this environment,they arrived here,because they instinctively found that the conditions suited them.This mass slaughter is a tragic waste.

Peter Franzen, Wigan (05/11/2007 at 12:38)

Those responsible for the cull in Wigan are DEFRA , the WWT, the RSPB and the entire Wigan Council Labour Group, led by Wigan Council Leader Lord Peter Smith, who vote slavishly to follow Government policy on each and every occasion.

In the 1970’s the Whiteheaded duck was facing extinction in Spain due to hunting.

However thanks to conservation efforts, including the import of fertilised Whiteheaded duck eggs from Pakistan, the Whiteheaded duck population in Spain has recovered substantially from a reported 22 in 1977 to around 5,000 today.

Following some evidence, more than five years ago, of incidents of Ruddy ducks mating with Whiteheaded ducks in Spain and producing fertile hybrids, Britain agreed to Spanish requests in 2003 for a cull of Ruddy Ducks.

There have been reports that the only reason for Britain’s agreement to the slaughter was to comply with Government instructions that all requests from the Spanish government should be acceded to wherever possible, to reciprocate the Spanish government's support in 2003 for the British government's war against Iraq.

During the whole of 2006 only 4 Ruddies and 2 hybrids were found and shot in Spain.

There is no evidence that the 4 Ruddies migrated from Britain and it is more likely that they were from a neighbouring country such as France.

On the contrary the effects of global warming have resulted in British Ruddy ducks staying closer to their breeding grounds in Britain.

There is no justification for a cull in Britain and the reasons given are no longer relevant.

The truth is that certain individuals in DEFRA, the WWT and the RSPB have nailed their colours firmly to the mast and are unwilling to risk their well paid careers by acknowledging the changed circumstances.

Also there is a £3.3 million “Ruddy duck cull gravy train” rolling and the beneficiaries are unwilling to get off.

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