SPORTING ANSWERS
Demise of the ruddy duck
WILDFOWL
Q What happened to Britain’s ruddy ducks?
A This North American diving duck became established as a breeding bird in England 60 years ago, the result of birds escaping from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge.
After a relatively slow start, the population expanded rapidly, peaking at 6,000 birds in 2000. However, concerns that ruddy ducks from Britain were flying to Spain and hybridising with the endangered white-headed duck led to calls for a total cull of the British population.
The Government’s controversial eradication programme started in 2005 and by 2012 the population had been reduced to a mere 60 birds. Today, it seems that the ruddy duck has been exterminated here.
It was an expensive project — estimates suggest that the costs rose to as much as £1,500 per bird killed.
The ruddy duck now appears to have joined the coypu on the short list of alien species that were once
