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Dark skies gather for Heath parakeets
 | | Parakeet |
Marc Mullen
ANIMAL rights campaigners have slammed plans that could lead to dead parrots and terrapins on Hampstead Heath.
 | | Parakeet |
The government's environment department, Defra, is holding a consultation on its strategy for "invasive non-native species."
One possible solution being examined is Defra's own call to cull the African green parakeets that live on Hampstead Heath.
A spokeswoman for the City of London Corporation, which manages Hampstead Heath, said: "There is a small flock of parakeets on the Heath.
"At the moment we are monitoring what, if any, impact they might have on the ecosystem."
The brilliant green rose-ringed parakeet is native to a belt of land stretching from Africa across to the Himalayas.
They first began breeding in the UK more than 40 years ago and there are now believed to be more than 30,000 across southern England.
Some ecologists fear the parakeets, which nest in holes and crevices in trees, may be displacing British species such as woodpeckers, nuthatches and starlings.
Animal rights campaigner Angela Humphery from Willoughby Road said: "I can understand from an ornithological point of view why they would want to keep native species, but personally I think it is a shame to kill any birds.
"I'm a supporter of the RSPB anyway and I fully support its views on this.
"I am really surprised the green parakeets have thrived in this climate - maybe it's thanks to global warming."
Ian Peters, wildlife adviser for the RSPB, said: "There is no evidence that these birds are causing problems for native birds.
"We are not supportive of culling. Some of the proposals for culling are simply not practical."
Meanwhile other proposals to fly terrapins to Tuscany at £25 a time, met with opposition at the Hampstead Heath management committee meeting on Monday.
Dozens of terrapins were dumped in Heath ponds in the 1990s after they were bought as presents for kids at the height of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze.
There are now believed to be 150 on the Heath.
Committee member Christine Cohen said: "I think this is complete folly. I don't think we should be looking after these terrapins. We should be humanely destroying them."
Heath superintendent Simon Lee promised to look into the cost implications of sending them to Italy, versus a cull.
A spokeswoman for the corporation said: "There are several options being considered for the future of the terrapins on the Heath.
"Euthanasia would cost the same amount, per terrapin, as sending them to the sanctuary in Italy, thus is not preferable.
"The possibility of rehousing the terrapins somewhere off the Heath is also being considered."
marc.mullen@hamhigh.co.uk
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