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Duck cull slammed
Marksmen have carried out a further cull of Wigan's Ruddy ducks.
The gunmen, working for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), shot a total of 24 ducks on Pearson's Flash in Poolstock early on Wednesday morning.
Paul Timpson from animal rights campaign group the North West Hunt Saboteurs, which has tried to disrupt previous culls, condemned the latest killing.
He said: "These ducks have been shot for no reason whatsoever. It is a sad state of affairs."
The cull took place even though the UK's bird shooting season ended on February 1. The shooting season ends to allow birds to breed.
But a spokeswoman for Defra said Ruddy ducks were not protected by a close season as other birds are.
She said marksmen from the Central Sciences Lab (CSL), who carried out the cull, are licensed by Natural England to undertake control work all year round.
In previous culls before Christmas, 46 ducks were shot and killed by marksmen at Pearson's Flash.
It is not known whether any ducks survived the cull.
The Defra spokeswoman said CSL will "make an assessment on whether it is appropriate to make another visit".
Mr Timpson said he had been contacted by two local residents who claimed they had come across the marksmen while walking their dog and said there had been no warning signs to inform members of the public that shooting was taking place.
He plans to write to Wigan Council to complain, adding: "I would have thought it would be a legal requirement to put warning signs up."
However the Defra spokesman said: "The safety of people is paramount and the personnel carrying out such work are highly trained. CSL staff are equipped with remote control radios and can contact control staff at all times.
"In the event that public health or safety was perceived to be at risk, control work is halted immediately.
"CSL undertake risk assessments of all sites before any control work begins. CSL staff work to Standardised Operating Procedures when undertaking control work and also have staff present on footpaths and at entrances to the site.
"The council are aware of these procedures."
The slaughter of Wigan's ruddy ducks has upset many Wigan residents as the ducks are doing no harm to the environment or other UK wildlife.
But the Spanish are worried that a small number of ruddy ducks are migrating and breeding with their indigenous white-headed duck. The NW Hunt Saboteurs has slammed the cull as "a pointless slaughter" which amounts to the "ethnic cleansing of wildlife."
Defra maintains the ruddy ducks are endangering the long-term future of the white-headed duck through cross-breeding.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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