£740-a-bird cull of ruddy ducks 'a waste of money'

A controversial UK cull of ruddy ducks, a US native that has been compared to a "feathered lager lout" for its displays of thuggish and amorous behaviour, has cost the British taxpayer more than £740 for each dead bird.

Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that shoots of the chestnut-coloured bird have cost taxpayers £4.6m, yet only 6,200 have been killed.

The disclosure has sparked an outcry from ornithologists and animal activists who have protested since the cull began five years ago. They say that the bird, ­targeted because it had interbred with the threatened white-headed duck in Spain, should have been left alone. The cull is due to end in August.



Lee Evans, the founder of the British Birding Association, said that the cull should be abandoned. "It's appalling and pointless, a complete waste of taxpayers' money. What's the point of it all? Our ruddy ducks don't go to Spain, but the French ducks do, and the French are not culling their birds. These marksmen are getting away with murder," he said.

The scheme has been run by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), part of Defra. However, other European countries such as Holland and France have resisted a cull, with a resultant rise in the population.

A spokesman for the RSPB said it stood by its decision to support the cull. "We appreciate that members may feel great concern over birds being killed, and eradicating ruddy ducks from the UK is clearly not an action that anybody approaches with enthusiasm. However, we have long felt that it would be wrong to stand by, do nothing and allow the white-headed duck to become extinct. It is important that eradication from the UK is achieved as soon as possible."