Watchdog allows 170,000 bird killings

OWLS and falcons are among the 170,000 wild birds licensed to be killed by the Government’s nature watchdog in the past five years, it was revealed yesterday.

Official documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the scale of the slaughter signed off by Natural England, including the destruction of 329 buzzards, 223 kestrels and red kites.

The watchdog issued 67,586 licences to kill greylag geese or destroy their nests and granted licences to ‘kill, injure or take’ barn owls and peregrine falcons over ‘public safety’ fears. Wild birds are normally protected under the law, but when nests are found to endanger public safety or damage farming, fisheries or forests they can be destroyed.

Jason Endfield, a blogger and wildlife campaigner, told the Guardian the scale of the killing was ‘absolutely shocking’ and ‘out of hand’, but Natural England defended the licences, saying they ‘are only granted when all other measures have been explored’.