Parakeet cull is racist they’re as British as curry, say experts

A decision to allow parakeets to be shot or captured to reduce their numbers in and around London has been attacked as "racist" by wildlife experts.

The London Wildlife Trust says there is "little evidence" that the bright green birds are causing a problem sufficient to justify their culling. It added that the birds — which come from the Himalayas — were "as British as curry" and they represented London's cultural and historical diversity.

Allowing a cull was "misguided" and placed other birds of similar appearance — such as the green woodpecker — at risk of being shot by mistake, it added. The wildlife trust, which also objected to an easing of restrictions on the Canada goose, said there was "no evidence that either species is having an adverse impact on native bird populations or natural habitats in London or elsewhere in Britain".

Mathew Frith, deputy chief executive of London Wildlife Trust, told the Standard: "The evidence is scant, and our view is that there are already existing licence arrangements that can be used if parakeets are damaging cherry trees, for example, in a farmer's orchard."

Natural England yesterday announced that from January it would relax the rules protecting the birds, which have been blamed for destroying crops and bullying smaller native species.

Owners or occupiers of land would be permitted to humanely kill ring-neck parakeets that are causing a problem, trap them in a cage or destroy their eggs.

Matthew Heydon, Natural England's licensing expert, said one farmer in Cobham had lost enough grapes in a day to make 3,000 bottles of wine.

"If you left a flock of several hundred parakeets in a vineyard for a day, you would probably have no crop left," he said.