Published: 20:55Monday
15 July 2019
Furious
environmentalists have lashed out at owners of Leith Docks after a colony of
endangered seabirds disappeared.
The
2,000-strong common tern colony on a man-made island in Imperial Dock was
abandoned this month.
Naturalists
claim that increased shipping activity has scared the birds away, after dead
terns and abandoned eggs were found at the site last month.
TV
wildlife presenter Chris Packham has branded it a “tragedy in contemporary
conservation”.
Common
terns are at risk in the UK, rated “amber” by the Birds of Conservation Concern
review. The Leith tern colony was the third largest in Britain and Ireland.
Forth
Ports has denied claims that increased shipping activity has caused the
destruction of the site and claims local tug crews “thought they saw a stoat or
similar”.
The
finding was rejected by the Lothian Ringing Group – local naturalists who have
followed activity of the tern colony closely for 30 years.
John
Davies, a member of the group said, “One mink attack doesn’t cause colony
abandonment. Mink don’t leave dead birds lying about, they cache them in a hidden
store and the same with eggs.”
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