strangford wildfowler Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 There has been word from my local fowling club that the wwt centre castle espie, co down NI was drawing in so many that Its was costing them a fortune on grain, so instead of letting some of the thousands of ducks they have there pass on back onto strangford lough there natural home, they necked a few hundred mallard, surely this is illegal. Can someone please help, and any advice on what the wildfowling clubs could do? Thanks, all the best Strangford wildfowler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 I would very much doubt this story, the WWT id funded by there members which are bird lovers/conservationists. Just imagine the backlash if they did cull "a few hundred Mallard" The WWT are not saints by any stretch of the imagination and when they decided to put out thier lead shot statement it was more a statement against field sports, so i would love to see them fall foul, but cant see the above happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 (edited) Firstly i think its a load of rubbish, there is no way the WWT would go and kill tons of mallard just because its costing them some money. Secondly, if it did happen and the mallard where on wwt land, there isnt a damn thing wildfowling clubs can do. I'd suggest not getting too worked up untill you've got some solid proof that it actually took place.... Edited September 27, 2013 by Big Mat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 I may be wrong but I thought I read some where over the last couple of months there was culling taking place at slimbridge, I am sure that was something to do with feeding.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 emotive issue and a rumour that might not be correct- yet perfectly legal. Managing overpopulation situations is part of conservation though personally I think this is the issue with artificially feeding and the main reason why we should manage the natural environment more than just put more grub out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry P Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Worth finding out if it is true though, if so something good to beat them with, not illegal but highly immoral of a conservation organisation that turns wild places into petting parks, then culls if they are too successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piebob Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Why even bother making sure it's true? Just get the story "out there". I'm serious, the LACS, RSPB et al never bother letting the truth and real facts get in the way of a good story that suits their case. Why should we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Why even bother making sure it's true? Just get the story "out there". I'm serious, the LACS, RSPB et al never bother letting the truth and real facts get in the way of a good story that suits their case. Why should we? We should make sure of the facts, if we don't we are just in the saem league as LACS, RSPB etc. We should show that we are better than them. The more sensationalist rubbish they come up with that is proved to untrue the better, it shows us in a better light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted September 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Well say what ya's think but I bet you the funds at this centre are down cause people hardley go to Its plus I wouldn't be surprised of they did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 (edited) Mallard in large numbers can be a major problem in ornimental waterfowl collections. The aim of a collection is to gather togeather a collection of ducks , probably from all over the world. Many of these birds will cost hundreds , maybe thousands of pounds. Mallard cause four main problems , mallard will kill other weaker species , crossbreed with similar species , rendering thousands of pounds worth of youngsters worthless, bring in diease and compete for the food given the ornimental duck costing perhaps up to £25 for 25 kilo bag. Being free winged mallard cant be kept away from the ornimental duck. Many mallard will settle in the pens and given the free hand out of food produce large broods of young many of which rarely leave the duck collection. When ever possible non leathal methods of mallard control shouId be used in a duck collection ( though it is a good idea to remove the hybreds ) , but they can be a difficult problem to deal with. I am not saying the WWT is culling mallard , but it does happen in some collections. Edited September 27, 2013 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 I know that the WWT have and do remove Mallard eggs, even this caused a big stir within the membership as the general public do not understand about keeping the balance. But as i said in my previous post i don't think they would cull birds as if it got out it would cause outrage within their members resulting possibly in a drop in membership which in turn has a direct impact on funds, more so than an increase in feed costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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