new to the flock Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 The Sunday Times August 27, 2006 Bustards killed by their tracking devices Will Iredale ATTEMPTS to re-establish the great bustard, once Britain’s biggest bird, are floundering after most of those released into the wild were killed by foxes or crashed into power lines and fences. Organisers of the project said last week that just 12 of the 55 birds imported as chicks from the banks of the River Volga since 2004 were still alive. They admitted that many of the bustards — ungainly 2ft 6in high game birds with bushy tails — had died because the radio- tracking devices fitted to them were too heavy. The birds, weighed down by the transmitters, were weakened and then attacked by foxes. Others were killed on cables or fencing as they tried to gain height. David Waters, the former police officer behind the programme, said his group had learnt from their mistakes, the death rate was falling and he was optimistic that the Russian bustards would establish breeding colonies in Britain. “We live in an age where people think Beatrix Potter is a documentary but the reality is that most young things die,†said Waters. “We have always said that this would be a 10-year project. We do not know if they will breed. We will have to let them get on with it.†The difficulties afflicting the bustard, hunted to extinction in Britain in the 1830s, contrast with the successful programme to reintroduce the red kite, a bird of prey, over the past 15 years. There are now about 480 breeding pairs established in Britain. Some experts believe the bustard’s prospects are poor in comparison. “It has been a valiant attempt,†said Grahame Madge at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “It was always considered to be a risk to reintroduce great bustards. It was very adventurous at best and is likely to take some time.†The bustard, a favourite at 18th-century banquets, can weigh up to 45lb with a 7ft wingspan. The world population is estimated at between 31,000 to 37,000, with most living in eastern Europe and southwest Russia. Waters set up the Great Bustard Group in 2004 with £100,000 of government funding, although the scheme now relies on private donors. At the time Dr Patrick Osborne, the project’s chief scientist, said: “The reintroduction of a sustainable wild population in Britain would be a conservation success of global significance.†The environment department granted Waters’s group a licence to import and release chicks for 10 years at a site on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. The charity hatched the chicks from eggs collected from abandoned nests by the River Volga. Leigh Lock, RSPB conservation manager for the southwest who monitors the scheme, said that despite the problems some bustards were living successfully in the area. “We have seen some survive so we know the habitat can support them,†he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fulltimeshooter Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 The Bustard just incase you didnt know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancs Lad Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Thought you were on about my ex neighbour..............oh well, she was a right bustard.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 " can weigh up to 45lb with a 7ft wingspan ". Now, thats my kind of target. Have you noticed that just about every wildlife programme you see, has the animals with tracking devices slung round their necks. You didn't get that in David Attenborough's day. :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcha Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 I bet I could do a better job than those fools. Infact, I'm going to get funding and get bustards and breed them. You just wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topgunners Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 I bet I could do a better job than those fools. Infact, I'm going to get funding and get bustards and breed them. You just wait. You'll only EAT them!!!!!!! Dave K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcha Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Well maybe a couple for doing a good deed, but hey, nothing comes for free right? Except free gifts. But you still have to buy the magazine to get them, so nothing does come for free. But, I make it my mission to re-introduce bustards. You just wait. The population will boom and the phesants will start to die out, because the bustards will eat them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 i give it a week before someone asks if its ok to shoot them with a .177 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiiish1987 Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 I bet the twitchers don't help either. As soon as someone discovers that a bittern has decided to pop into radipole lake, every twitcher within 100 miles suddenly appears. each armed to the teeth with oversized bino's and giant cameras. No wonder the bustards arn't doing well with that lot chasing after them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COLINSRI Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Well maybe a couple for doing a good deed, but hey, nothing comes for free right? Except free gifts. But you still have to buy the magazine to get them, so nothing does come for free. But, I make it my mission to re-introduce bustards. You just wait. The population will boom and the phesants will start to die out, because the bustards will eat them all Your plan is Rubbish or at best 'flawed'. You see Bustards don't stay with one partner long enough to breed. There habit is to go behind their partners back to see what their mates bird is like in the nest. Hence the saying 'all men are bustards'. The problem is monogomy. Sort that and the little Bustards will flurrish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verminer Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 is it ok to shoot them with a .177 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilv Posted September 3, 2006 Report Share Posted September 3, 2006 is it ok to shoot them with a .177 No, but a marble in a catapult is fine. Just make sure the elastic is about a 1/4 of an inch thick and keep the range under 75 yards. You need a velocity of about 44 fps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcha Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 44 fps? Thats like, less than me sneezeing. Reckon if I sneezed on a bustard with thumb tacks in my mouth it would kill it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redthunder Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I wonder what they taste like :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I wonder what they taste like :o bit like swan i hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redthunder Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I wonder what they taste like :o bit like swan i hear Ill order two with chips :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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