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Shoot the ruddy duck

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DEPARTMENT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

441/05                                                          12 October 2005

£3.3 MILLION FOR RUDDY DUCK ERADICATION

A £3.3 million project announced today will address the threat to European wildlife posed by ruddy duck populations now settled in Britain .

Ruddy ducks are an invasive species native to North America , and the populations in Britain are the most significant threat to the survival to the globally-threatened white-headed duck in Spain .

The £3.34 million, five-year project is jointly funded by Defra and the European Commission, with Defra contributing £2.03 million of the total costs.

Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight said that the control program would make a major contribution to protecting the declining populations of white-headed ducks.

"Non-native invasive species are a major problem throughout Europe , and ruddy ducks are no exception," he said. "If the threat of ruddy ducks is removed, Spain 's globally-threatened white-headed ducks will have a much brighter future.

"This funding package follows through on our 2003 agreement to eradicate ruddy ducks, once further research on humane control techniques had been completed and other issues had been resolved.

"No country can remove the threat of ruddy ducks to Europe 's native wildlife on its own, and we have been working closely with Spain and other EU nations to achieve international co-operation on this issue."

Ruddy ducks were introduced to the UK from North America in the 1940s, and the current population in the wild is estimated to be around 6000 birds. There are an estimated 500,000 ruddy ducks in their native North America .

Ruddy ducks interbreed with white-headed ducks, whose Western European population around 2700 birds are all found in Spain .  The interbred offspring are fertile, and therefore pose an increasing threat to the white-headed duck, which could lead to its extinction. Without the presence of Ruddy ducks, the White-headed duck population in Spain is thought to be self-sustaining.

Defra has already advertised for ruddy duck control specialists to work on the project, which is expected to commence before the end of the year.

NOTE

1. Ruddy ducks are a North American species imported into wildfowl collections in the United Kingdom .  Some birds escaped from these collections and formed a free flying population that now numbers around 6,000 birds.  In North America they are common and widespread and number over 500,000.

2. Analysis of the population change in Ruddy ducks in the UK following initial escapes shows that numbers have increased and the range widened over the years.  The pattern of occurrence in Europe correlates with the UK increase and did not begin until Ruddy ducks were well established in the UK .  The UK population of Ruddy ducks is also the only plausible source of flocks of 30 - 80 that have migrated annually to over-winter at one site in northern France since 1996.  This suggests that emigration from the UK accounts for most, if not all, of the Ruddy ducks presence on the continent and in the Spanish White-headed duck breeding grounds in particular.

3. A control trial was suggested, following recommendations to the Government from the White-headed duck Task Force, to investigate the best possible way for the UK to conserve White-headed ducks.  The Task Force included representation from the statutory conservation agencies and several non-Governmental organisations with ornithological interests.

4. Then Environment Minister Michael Meacher announced on 1 February 1999 that a limited control trial would start in three areas - the Western Midlands , Anglesey and Fife - to establish the feasibility of eradicating Ruddy ducks within ten years; to find out what the cost would be of such a large control strategy; and to assess the implications for landowners.

5. In July 2002, the Government published the results of the control trial.  The report indicated that eradication of Ruddy ducks from the United Kingdom was feasible within ten years and that shooting was the most effective means of control tested in the trial.

6. Defra sought advice from its statutory scientific advisors and consulted with the devolved administrations on the outcome of the trial and the next steps to protect the White-headed duck from the threat of hybridisation.  It took the views of landowners and non-governmental organisations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Wildlife Trusts.

7. On the basis of these discussions the Government agreed in principle that eradication of the Ruddy duck in United Kingdom was the preferred outcome. The UK holds by far the largest proportion of Ruddy ducks in Europe and without action in the UK , the survival of the White-headed duck as a distinct species would be severely compromised.  However, in confirming this decision, the Government also concluded:

- that further research work into control techniques was required to determine more efficient techniques of control and further explore the use of alternative control measures;
- the protection provided by domestic legislation to protect the Ruddy duck should be removed;
- that the UK cannot act alone in removing the threat posed by the ruddy duck.

8. Since that announcement, the Government has removed domestic protection of the Ruddy duck, continued to work with its European partners in protecting White-headed ducks and completed research into control techniques.

9. A number of international agreements oblige the UK to support action to conserve the White-headed duck, including:

- Article 8(h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which recommends that "each contracting party shall, as far as possible and appropriate, prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species".
- Article 11, 2(b) of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats which states that each Contracting Party undertakes "to strictly control the introduction of non-native species".

10.   The general objective of the EU LIFE programme is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of Community environmental policy  and  legislation, in particular, regarding the integration of the environment into  other policies and to sustainable development in the community. While many other  EU funding programmes have environmental strands, LIFE is the only programme  devoted entirely to supporting and developing EU environmental policy throughout  the Community.

11.  The LIFE programme has three components: LIFE-Environment, LIFE-Nature and  LIFE-Third Countries.  The LIFE funding for the Ruddy duck programme has come  from the LIFE-Nature component, which is available for the conservation of natural  habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

Website www.defra.gov.uk