Parakeet cull plan to save native birds

FLOCKS of green parakeets should be culled as they are a threat to native species and crops, experts said yesterday.

There are an estimated 50,000 green ring-necked parakeets in the UK and they have been sighted in areas including London, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Manchester. But there are concerns the birds could ruin crops, especially on fruit farms and vineyards.

Dr Hazel Jackson, co-founder of ParrotNet at Kent University, has said the parakeets are an urgent economic, societal and environmental problem. The group is due to present its findings to scientists at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which include recommendations to remove constraints on culling.

Problems posed by the birds include disturbing humans, the potential to transmit disease to livestock, competition with native wildlife and, increasingly, as an agricultural pest.

The ParrotNet group says that warmer weather has made it easier for parakeets to spread through Europe.