CONCERN HAS BEEN expressed locally in Co Donegal after a number of swans were electrocuted by power lines in recent times.
Birdwatch Ireland has expressed its ‘extreme concern’ at the deaths of 15 whooper swans at the same spot near the village of Carrigans.
The migrating birds were killed in the last number of months, a representative for the group confirmed.
Most of the birds that died were juveniles, just a few months in age.
Whooper swans migrate to Ireland in autumn from their nesting grounds in Iceland.
“It is very concerning that these migratory whooper swans have been electrocuted in Carrigans, especially in such large numbers,” said Birdwatch Ireland’s Niall Hatch.
Ireland hosts internationally important numbers of whooper swans each autumn and winter, and it has a special responsibility to conserve and protect them.
“We sincerely hope that measures can be put in place to prevent further swan deaths as soon as possible,” he said.
Roughly 700 such swans were present earlier today feeding in a field adjacent to the power lines in question.
Birdwatch Ireland says it has contacted the ESB with a view to having further preventative measures installed to aid swans in flight in distinguishing the power lines from the horizon.
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