MOST CORMORANTS ARE ALIEN

IN his letter “Why anglers can’t challenge the RSPB” (AT Jan 14), Michael Randall calls cormorants “scavengers from the sea”. The majority of inland cormorants are the ‘sinensis’ sub-species which nest in trees and eat freshwater fish.

These first flew to the UK from mainland Europe in the 1980s and were most likely introduced from the Far East. Many people feel they should be classed as an invasive species.

If anglers understood that inland cormorants are mostly Chinese freshwater birds that have only been here since the 1980s, we would be better able to argue a case for culling.

John Lucas, via email