Parakeets cull is racist, say wildlife experts

Ring-necked parakeetParakeets are 'as British as curry' and shooting them would be racist, according to wildlife experts who are fighting a decision to allow the exotic birds to be culled.

This week Natural England officially deemed the ring-necked parakeet as a pest, making it possible to shoot the birds without a licence.

However Dr Ian Rotherham, Director of the Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University, said there is a danger that labelling parakeets as a "nasty alien" just because they are from abroad could be seen as a form of "racism" towards a foreign species.

"If there is a problem - for example with the birds taking fruit - then we have to take steps to deal with it. If you start to label it as alien then that is some sort of racism. Eco-xenophobia is the label I would use.

"I suspect there is an underlying view it is because they are alien, but it should be because they are a problem."

Matthew Frith, Deputy Chief Executive of the London Wildlife Trust, said parakeets were "as British as curry" and agreed it was dangerous to label the birds as a pest just because they are foreign.

"Parakeets are birds from the Indian sub-continent that came here is the last century and are doing very well. Just like curry," he said.

"There are concerns that species from other parts of the world are scapegoated but we have been bringing different animals here like rabbits and hares since Roman times.

"The biodiversity in our country is a mix of native and non-native just like the social make-up of this country."

The ring-necked parakeet first appeared in the wild in Britain in 1969, having been bought here as a pet.

By the late 1990s the birds were being seen throughout the South East and there are now thought to 20,000 birds across the country. The exotic birds are especially common in London around Richmond Park.

Farmers in Surrey have complained about the birds taking fruit and there have been concerns about parrakeets threatening native birds like woodpeckers and nuthatches.

Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said it was important to control non-native and exotic species.

The new rules allow people to kill parakeets or take their eggs without a licence as long as they can prove the birds are causing a nuisance. Canada geese and Egyptian geese have also been given the designation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

"Non-native species are a major threat to global biodiversity and it is important that licences can operate as an effective tool in helping to tackle the problem," she said.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said parakeets are already controlled under licence and the new rules would just make it easier for people with legitimate concerns to control the birds.