I AM concerned that Stamford Bridge parish council is trying to get a licence to cull ducks in the village because there are too many of them (January 21).
This sounds depressingly similar to York council's plans to cull Canada geese in the city on similar grounds.
Fortunately, in this case, the council saw sense and took sound scientific advice which resulted in the cull being abandoned in favour of less drastic and more effective measures - discouraging feeding, making areas less attractive to the birds and egg-pricking.
Why, when there is a perceived conflict between man and animals, is the first resort to kill the animals?
Apart from the ethics of such action, it is obvious in the case of Stamford Bridge that as long as people feed the ducks, those killed will be replaced by others looking for a free lunch. So those feeding the ducks may be killing them with kindness.
Alan Robertshaw,
Towthorpe Road,
Haxby, York.
Updated: 12:37 Friday, February 01, 2002
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