9 hours agoShareSaveKatharine Da CostaSouth of EnglandShareSaveA British red kite emerges from an aviary in the remote hills of western Spain and takes flight. At six months old, this is its first taste of freedom. Without a sound, it soars high in the sky above scrubland and within seconds disappears from view into a wooded valley in the distance.It is the latest release in a conservation story that has come full circle.Nearly four decades ago, the birds were extinct in England and Scotland with just a few pairs left in Wales.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, red kite chicks from Spain and Sweden were released in the Chilterns on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border.It proved so successful that the species is now thriving across the UK, with estimates of more than 6,000 mating pairs or about 15% of the world’s population. Dr Ian Evans, from Natural England, was one of the early pioneers.He said: “There were a lot of unknowns. The first lot we released, we thought they might just die or they might just move away.”In 1991, we had our first breeding pairs and that was really an eye-opener because we thought ‘well, this can be successful’.”That was the springboard for establishing other release sites in England and Scotland.”AMUSIn Spain, the relocation project in Extremadura has seen three mating pairs so far that have produced two surviving chicks.With more tagged red kites due to reach sexual maturity next year, it is hoped these numbers will multiply.”There are still huge areas of southern Spain where the red kite was common three decades ago and is now almost extinct,” Mr Godino says.”So the next step is how we can apply this experience to other areas of Spain.”Related Links …
