Charity in firing line as shoot uncovered
A bird charity has provoked outrage for letting ducks and geese be shot on a nature reserve.
The RSPB hands out shooting licences on its land at Langstone Harbour where wildfowlers can kill up to 10 birds a day – for sport.
The shooting has been allowed for years, but few people visiting the harbour reserve were aware of it. It has been blown into the open because a pellet-riddled duck carcass was found by a walker.
The charity has defended its decision, saying shoots are very carefully monitored and the alternative would be to have illegal poachers causing havoc.
But wildlife lovers say it is against what the RSPB stands for. Barry Hugill, from the League Against Cruel Sports, said: 'I find it exceedingly distasteful. It's a wildlife sanctuary. How on earth can it be a sanctuary if someone is going to come and kill the birds that live there?'
Keen twitcher and conservationist Robert Hill, who discovered a dead widgeon duck covered in pellet wounds, is horrified.
There are signs up in Langstone Harbour saying wildfowling takes place, but he said it had never been widely announced.
There is no mention of the shooting licences on the RSPB's website.
The 43-year-old, of Shaftesbury Avenue, Waterlooville, said: 'I don't think it's acceptable. It's a blood sport. I can't see any justification for it.
'No-one owns wildlife. These poor animals come in for sanctuary and end up getting blown out of the air.'
Local wildfowling group, the Langstone & District Wildfowlers & Conservation Association, has had shooting rights on the land since 1979 and wildfowling has taken place in the harbour since the 1600s.
They are allowed to shoot between September and January on two of five islands in Langstone Harbour, which can be accessed by walking across the mudflats, and on saltmarshes at the northeast of Farlington Marshes.
At the end of each month they have to report every bird shot to the RSPB so bird levels can be monitored.
Chris Cockburn, RSPB warden for Langstone harbour, said: 'If wildfowling was banned the only way we could make it work would be by policing it.
'The reality is that would be very difficult whereas by licensing it we are controlling the amount of shooting that can occur. Poaching would be disastrous.'
He said one of the rules is that wildfowlers must always have a dog with them, which would usually collect up any dead birds.
Nick Horten, from the wildfowlers association, said the group carried out conservation work in the area and was extremely careful about the types of birds they shoot.
All members are vetted by the police and must train for a year before they are allowed to shoot alone.
'We have been a tenant of the RSPB which is the foremost bird conservation group for 30 years and if they had the slightest concern about the way we conduct ourselves they would have thrown us off years ago,' he said.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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