Gull-killer faces £20,000 fine

One died within hours and the other survived but will never fly again.

Sussex Police were expecting to make an arrest this week but in the meantime comes the warning this offence carries a 20,000 fine and possible six months imprisonment.

Tim McKenzie of National Gull Rescue and Protection told the Observer: "It is very disappointing that last week, on May 9, a chap from Wilton Road phoned us and said there was a gull covered in blood by his kitchen door at the back.

"We went and picked the bird up '“ she had a pellet in her from a very high power 2.2 air rifle which had smashed through the wing and went deep into the body.

"It took about four hours before she died.

"Then on May 15 exactly the same '“ the back garden again at the same address. The caller said she was working inside and heard a crash '“ she heard the gull crash down into the back garden.

"The gull had been shot at close range. When that happens, they come straight down '“ and we think this shot came from very close.

"There's no way for instance someone could shoot from Eversley Road to a rooftop in Wilton Road. The pellet would not go that far.

"The bird is still with us. He is a super little bird, but there's a long way to go, he's not out of the woods by any means. He lost an enormous amount of blood. He will never fly again because the bones in his wing are completely smashed, but he is still with us, still in intensive care."

Tim said the attacks against the gulls were unusual locally because there had been none in Bexhill or Hastings recently, although there's been a spate of shootings across Sussex in the past month, with deaths reported in Brighton and Eastbourne.

New legislation means the penalties are high for interfering with nests or injuring gulls because they are rare and need full protection if they are to survive.

Tim said: "The herring gull is now on the critically endangered red list of British birds. There's been a massive population decline in the last five years alone, 50 percent and continuing downwards."

He points to a lack of natural habitat as a factor but also claims that deprived of their natural diet, gulls move into town to look for something to eat and are eating leftover junk food which is killing them '“ apparently their bodies are "full of trans-fats" and this is having catastrophic effect.

Now he is urging Bexhill residents to be tolerant of herring gulls which are nesting and beginning to produce chicks, which means they may be noisy or divebomb anyone who comes too near, by way of protecting their young.

He says there is no excuse for anyone trying to remove a nest and warns this would mean prosecution in all but extreme circumstances.

"With the poor gulls critically endangered every single one counts. When their numbers are dwindling so rapidly it is very important they should all be protected.

"People in Bexhill should know these are fully protected birds by law.

"The last count here showed there were 600 adults throughout the whole of Bexhill and only 200 juveniles. The total population for England is 144,000, which is nothing '“ there are for instance two million puffins, and 15 million blackbirds.

"Yes, gulls are big, they are noisy, they are white, but there are a lot less of them than you think.

"They are a very special part of the population... and we have found the population of Bexhill really loves the gull. We have done a survey and found that more than 75 per cent of people here love the gulls. We do a lot of our releases from here because we feel Bexhill is one of the safest places for the gulls. We get so much support from here - it's really nice."

The shooting in Wilton Road is currently being investigated '“ if you have any information please contact Andrea Gallastegui at Bexhill Station on 0845 60 70 999 or email her on [email protected], or contact Tim at National Gull Rescue and Protection on 07765 114599.