Aviary action to avert raven crisis at the Tower
As the guardians against a centuries-old prophecy warning of the fall of the kingdom, it is best not to leave things to chance.
The Tower of London, therefore, is to launch a breeding scheme for its ravens to ensure that they never run out.
Charles II is said have insisted that six ravens remained in the fortress, believing that ‘‘the kingdom will fall’’ and the Tower would crumble if they chose to leave. As it stands the Tower is home to seven ravens, but Historic Royal Palaces are now set to launch a breeding programme to ensure ‘‘the prophecy will never come to pass’’.
Whilst it is highly unlikely that the ravens’ departure would lead to the end of the British kingdom as we know it, the tower will build its own breeding aviary to protect its avian guardians.
There are fears surrounding the seven ravens who live at the tower – Jubilee, Harris, Gripp, Rocky, Erin, Poppy and Merlina – as the birds’ breeding prospects have been cast into doubt in recent years.
In an effort to avert the ‘‘raven crisis’’, which has seen the number of birds steadily decline in the UK, Historic Royal Palaces has been granted planning permission by Tower Hamlets Council for the aviary.
Faced with a shortage of legal breeders, the tourist attraction hopes to build the enclosure next year. It would be 12m long, 5m wide and 3.5m high and located in the moat next to the Salt Tower.
In a report submitted to the council, Historic Royal Palaces warned it was becoming ‘‘increasingly difficult’’ to source the birds because ‘‘there are very few legal captive raven breeders in the UK’’.
The report says: ‘‘The Tower of London comes under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which states clearly that we should not resupply . . . from birds in the wild as done in years gone by..’’
The legend is thought to have originated after John Flamsteed, the first astronomer royal, complained to King Charles II that the birds were interfering with his observations.
The King therefore ordered their destruction only to be told that if the ravens left the Tower, the White Tower would fall and a great disaster befall the Kingdom. The King swiftly changed his mind and decreed that at least six ravens should be kept at the Tower at all times to prevent disaster.