by Lee Templar

Created on: April 17, 2007

The Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) is a small stiff-tailed duck native to the Americas. It has become established in the UK, after individual birds escaped from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust headquarters at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire during the 1950s. The population expanded, and there have been up to 6,000 Ruddy Ducks present in the UK, in scattered locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

While, even as an invasive species, they do little or no harm in the UK itself, the problems lie in Europe. Ruddy Ducks are migratory birds, and some have found their way to the European mainland. The problem with this is that the more agressive Ruddy Ducks are hybridising with the Spanish population of the highly endangered White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala). The danger is it may "genetically swamp" its relative into extinction if left unchecked.

In a controversial move, Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) trialled a series of culls in 1999, in three UK locations, at a cost of around 800,000. Methods considered included trapping, and dipping eggs in paraffin to prevent them hatching, but breeding season shooting was considered the most efficient method. In the autumn of 2005 the full-scale cull went under way, to totally eradicate the species in a time-frame of five years. An estimate in January 2007 suggests that the national population is now down to around 2,000 individuals.

The subject of the Ruddy Duck cull has split Britain's conservationists and nature lovers. Some argue that from an animal rights point of view, that the UK's Ruddy Ducks should not face death due to man's errors, or that the shooting method may cause undue suffering, and disturbance to other species. Others simply think it's a waste of time and money that could be spent elsewhere.

Others, however, believe that the White-headed Duck, like all endangered species, should be protected at all costs, however drastic and unpopular the action that's required to do so.

Sources:

Birds Britannica (Cocker & Mabey, 2005)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruddy_duck
http://w ww.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/ruddyduck/i ndex.asp
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside /non-native/pdf/ruddy-duck-qa.pdf

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