The removing of a colony of swallows nesting at an ambulance station appears to be “completely pointless and misguided”, a conservationist has mentioned.
West Midlands Ambulance Service mentioned a licence has been granted for the quick removing of the birds from its Shrewsbury web site.
However Sarah Gibson maintained it might be “vastly nerve-racking” for the animals.
The belief mentioned it had been left with “no possibility” aside from to behave.
It complained the birds’ droppings pose a threat of infecting medical tools saved on the web site.
In keeping with Ms Gibson, an writer and former Shropshire Wildlife Belief employee of 23 years, the colony – consisting of quite a few nesting pairs and plenty of younger – would go away on their very own in a number of weeks’ time anyway.
“[The birds will] be heading again to Africa the place they spend their winters, having raised their younger,” Ms Gibson defined.
The species was in “steep decline”, she added, saying transferring them would endanger the younger that had not totally fledged.
An ambulance service spokesman mentioned “we merely can’t have birds” within the storage, an space the place medical tools was maintained.
“Not solely do the birds make it an disagreeable place to work, they’re inflicting harm to tools and there’s the chance of their droppings infecting medical tools, a matter which has actual dangers for sufferers,” he added.
He instructed a month-to-month clean-up invoice for the tools of £3,000, though it was not clear whether or not the sum was immediately linked to the birds, however he defined: “The very last thing we need to do is trigger hurt to the birds, however we can’t proceed as we’re with the an infection threat to sufferers and the prices that ought to be invested in affected person care.”
A licence to take away the protected migratory birds was granted by Pure England.
It mentioned all “different choices have been thought-about” earlier than the licence was authorised.
“Pure England takes the safety of wildlife extraordinarily critically and it’s uncommon to obtain an utility of this nature,” Emma Johnson, Space Supervisor for Pure England within the West Midlands mentioned.
She mentioned it was granted “as a result of distinctive circumstance” that the swallow droppings have been “contaminating life-saving tools and posed a threat to well being and security”.
The ambulance service mentioned it might try to rehome any birds present in nests and had been put in contact with a charity to assist with that.
“We may also put up fowl packing containers exterior the constructing, ought to the birds come again, within the hope that they won’t try to nest within the storage once more,” a spokesperson added.
Nonetheless, Ms Gibson mentioned the birds had returned to nest on the web site for in regards to the previous seven years “and there is by no means been an issue earlier than”.
She added: “And the right way to do you rehome a wild fowl?”
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