Bonn, 5 August 2010 - The UK's Food and Environment
Research Agency (fera)
has just circulated an update on the UK Ruddy Duck Eradication
Programme. Since the start of the eradication programme
in September 2005, the UK Ruddy Duck population continues
to fall, from an estimated 4,400 to around 200 adults by
July 2010.

The Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
is a North American bird introduced to the UK over 50 years
ago. A small number escaped from captivity and formed a
feral population which numbered around 6,000 by January
2000.

Since the early 1990s Ruddy Ducks, almost
certainly originating from the UK, have appeared in Spain
where they hybridise with the native White-headed Duck (Oxyura
leucocephala). The erradication programme is an internationally
agreed measure to try to minimize the risk of long-term
hybridisation between the two species, which could lead
to the extinction of the White-headed Duck, a globally threatened
species.

AEWA strongly endorses the project because
it supports the goals of the International
Single Species Action Plan for the White-headed Duck
that CMS, AEWA and the European Commission have developed,
with several other partners. The avoidance of introgressive
hybridisation between the Ruddy Duck and the White-headed
Duck by eradication of the North American species will help
reduce one threat the White-headed Duck is facing.

The UK Ruddy Duck eradication programme
is co-funded by the EU LIFE-Nature Unit and Defra, who have
agreed to extend the programme until the end of March 2011.

Further Information:

• Latest
  Bulletin of the UK Ruddy Duck Eradication Programme
  (PDF Format)
• International
  Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the
  
  
  White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala)