Pensioner cautioned for killing heron to save duckling

A MAN who saw a heron eat a duckling shot the bird and cut it open to pull the prey from its stomach.

North Wales Police’s Rural Crime Unit, which described the pensioner as “vulnerable and elderly”, revealed the incident, in Pwllheli last year, on Twitter, without disclosing the name of the culprit.

Officers said: “He had witnessed it eating a newly-born duckling so decided to kill the heron in order to rescue the duckling from its stomach. Strangely, he actually did rescue the duckling alive. But obviously he was then left with a dead heron. You couldn’t make this up!” The offender was arrested and released with a caution.

Some people responded to the tweet by criticising the police decision to let the man off with a caution. The heron is a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with fines or prison sentences available for anyone killing or attempting to kill one.

Lee Dingain, a trustee of the Wader Quest charity, said: “Not too elderly to kill an apparently ‘protected’ and not to mention formidable bird. The heron is the vulnerable one! Decisions like this are a major part of the reason why wildlife crime is not taken seriously.” Jane Kennedy added: “Clearly a protected bird has been illegally killed on this occasion, so a crime has been committed.”

North Wales Police said: “These decisions are never taken lightly and a number of factors are addressed. This was a vulnerable elderly man, who confessed voluntarily to the action with no previous convictions.”