EVEN in a world where casual cruelty to animals is on the increase, it's hard to believe that someone would put glue on tree branches to capture wild birds.
Apparently, the birds, mostly finches, are then packed off abroad and sold as singing birds. Similarly, criminals who prey on wildlife have no compunction about stealing the eggs of birds that are officially endangered, and selling them on to collect
ors. In the case of a species like the rare Red Kite, which was re-introduced to Rockingham Forest, thieves can get thousands of pounds for their eggs. They don't care about the future of the species, or that their activities are undoing careful conservation work.
Living in a city like Peterborough, it may be hard to believe that wildlife crime is rife, but it is such a problem that Cambridgeshire police has set up the Rural Community Action Team (RCAT) to deal with it.
We have a duty of care to nature, that's why our wildlife cops are needed to stop human greed from wiping some species off the planet.
Why we should all bee very worriedA GOOD example of our essential co-existence with nature is highlighted by the plight of the bee population which is mysteriously being decimated.
It's not just a honey shortage we face as a result, bees are essential for fruit tree pollination.
It will be a disaster if the bee colonies don't recover.
The full article contains 250 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
