Campaigners 'sick to the stomach' over gull cull

Animal campaigners say they felt "sick to the stomach" and have "no respect" for Natural England after it allowed a business to cull an endangered species of bird.

Suffolk Police received reports of gulls and their chicks being targeted by a man holding an air rifle-style gun on the roof of Sulzer, at Ransomes Europark in Ipswich.

In footage filmed on the 24 June, he could be seen wearing an orange hi-vis vest and brandishing the weapon as distressed gulls flapped and squawked nearby.

Natural England confirmed to the BBC it had granted a licence to the company to kill lesser black-backed gulls and also herring gulls, despite them being red-listed.

The police's rural team investigated the incident and said that, because the firm had been given permission to cull the birds, no offences had been committed.

The granting of the licence by Natural England did not go down well with Yvette Hart, who runs Ipswich wildlife rescue service Wags on Water.

"Any organisation that is quite happy to destroy an endangered species I have no respect for whatsoever, so I have no respect for Natural England at all," she said.

"I just felt really sick to the stomach [when I saw the footage] because I couldn't believe it had been allowed to happen – it's absolutely awful and unbelievable.

"But I'm not surprised at all because there is no protection for these birds."

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Samantha Edwards, also from Ipswich, described the culling of the endangered birds as an "awful, disgraceful act and totally unnecessary".

"If any birds cause a roof or building problems, there are ways to deal with it without disturbing, frightening or murdering innocent protected animals," she said.

"I and so many are still shocked and disgusted by what happened, and there are a lot of questions Natural England needs to answer because this did not need to be happening.

"It's unforgivable and there was absolutely no reason for this barbaric situation to happen."

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is "illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird" in Great Britain without a licence.

This also applies to the taking, damaging or destroying of a nest belonging to any wild bird while it is in use or being built.

Natural England can give permission for culls if the reason is to preserve air safety and public health or prevent damage to livestock.

However, such licences can be granted only "once all other avenues have been explored", which Rosie Catford did not believe happened in this case.

The founder and director of the Wildlives Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, in Essex, said gulls were nesting on rooftops more and more due to a reduction in natural nesting sites.

She added that her team would have been able to safely retrieve the birds from the roof of Sulzer and release them into a more suitable place had they been asked.

"Why do we have Natural England to put these protections on vulnerable species if they can just annul the licence for somebody to go and shoot them?" she said.

"I can't really find words to describe how I felt [when I saw the video]. My stomach dropped and it just beggars belief.

"Once they're gone, they're gone. Once they're dead and their babies are dead, they're dead. I can't understand for one minute why a licence was granted."

According to the RSPB, the herring gull population has "plummeted" in recent years.

Natural England said it was committed to not negatively affecting the overall conservation status of a species, including herring gulls.

"There are a number of limited circumstances where it is, unfortunately, necessary to control wild birds," a spokesperson said.

"Every licence application goes through a rigorous evaluation process and will only be approved where it meets strict criteria.

"We will assess that the species' conservation status will not be impacted, and that there is no satisfactory alternative."

Sulzer did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

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