Birds of Prey: Urban Areas

(asked on 18th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to control the red kite population in urbanised areas.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 28th June 2021

The recovery of the red kite is a great conservation success story with the population recovering from just 160 pairs in 1995 to 4,400 pairs in 2019.

Red kites, like all wild birds, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and we have no plans to manage the species. We advise that the public does not feed red kites to avoid them becoming habituated to humans and increasing the risk of human contact.

In exceptional circumstance, and for specific purposes, Natural England has the authority to issue licences for certain activities that would normally be prohibited under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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