As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday, 8 June 2018

Bird SLAUGHTER: Majestic kite trapped by torture device as rare harriers vanish mysterious



A MAJESTIC red kite was left enduring a slow and agonising death after being gripped by the cruel teeth of an illegal wildlife trap.

PUBLISHED: 17:40, Tue, May 22, 2018 | UPDATED: 17:40, Tue, May 22, 2018

Harriers have vanished and the kite trapped by device

The medieval looking contraption broke both the protected bird of prey’s legs as it snapped shut with tremendous force.

For the heavily bleeding kite, it would have been a slow death sentence, but a passerby took the bird to a vet who had no option but end its suffering.

The death of the kite comes in a dismal week for Britain’s rarest birds of prey.

Conservationists today announced that three hen harriers fitted with satellite trackers have vanished suspiciously over recent weeks.

As the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds investigate the harriers’ disappearance, colleagues at the RSPCA have launched an appeal for information on how the kite became trapped near Aberystwyth earlier this month.

These gin traps were made illegal to set many years ago and yet shockingly are still being used to catch animals.

Although red kite numbers are buoyant after recent reintroductions, the kites of central Wales are remnants of the surviving British population which almost became extinct last century.


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