Between 1956 and 1963 seventy ruddy duck chicks at Slimbridge were left unpinioned and flew off the wildfowl collection, the feral British population reached 6,000 birds by 2000, and after the cull that started in 2005 the whole country is down to 15 birds and 2 breeding pairs.
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At Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, some time between 1956 and 1963, keepers at the wildfowl collection Sir Peter Scott had founded raised around seventy ruddy duck chicks and left them unpinioned, meaning their wing feathers were never clipped to stop them flying. Pinioning was standard practice for exotic waterfowl kept in open collections. Without it, a duck that fledges is a duck that can leave.
Those seventy birds did.
Ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) are small, stiff-tailed diving ducks nati
Those seventy birds did.
Ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) are small, stiff-tailed diving ducks nati
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