WHO TOPPLED OUR NEST?
Vandals with chainsaw destroy ospreys’ home
THESE disconsolate ospreys are looking at where their nest – with their first egg – stood until vandals cut it down with a chainsaw.
As the hunt for the perpetrators gathered pace, police said they believed the attackers had a ‘strong motive’ to target the sea hawks.
The protected nesting platform at Llyn Brenig reservoir in the Denbigh Moors, North Wales, was destroyed after the first egg of the season had been laid.
CCTV footage shows the moment the nest was sent plunging into the lake, with a chainsaw heard in the background. North
Wales Police’s rural crime team tweeted: ‘We believe the person who did this had a strong motive to rid the area of ospreys and particularly the lake.’
The force’s Sergeant Rob Taylor said: ‘We really are pulling out all the stops to try to catch the person or persons responsible for this and believe me they will receive the full force of the law if we do catch them.’
The site, managed by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, is only the fifth breeding site for the fish-eating birds in Wales. Graeme Cotterill of North Wales Wildlife Trust said: ‘This is a horrendous wildlife crime. These are the rarest birds in Wales and there are very few breeding nests.’ He said another nest platform had been cleared in the hope the birds will migrate there and lay more eggs.
There are five pairs of ospreys in Wales and the birds and their eggs are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act which makes it an offence to interfere with them or their nests. Springwatch presenter
Iolo Williams pleaded for information to be given to the police. He said: ‘This cannot go unpunished. Unbelievable.’
A member of the public is offering £2,000 to anyone with information to catch the vandals in Friday’s attack.
The Llyn Brenig osprey project began in 2013. In 2018, it saw the first hatched ospreys in the area in over 100 years.