Red kites fly high again in UK

Once they soared and plunged gracefully in the skies across Europe but, in Britain, they were reduced to a handful in Wales.

Twelve years on, however, the population of red kites has similarly diminished across the Continent and the spectacle of some 100 birds gathering to feed at Gigrin Farm, Rhayader, Powys may offer Europeans their only hope of once again witnessing their graceful flight.

A series of studies across the EU, Scandinavia and Switzerland has found that Britain's red kites, faced with extinction only a decade ago, are now the only increasing population in Europe.

Only two countries still hold apparently stable populations, in Sweden and Switzerland. But these are no longer increasing.

By the Eighties, the red kite had vanished from the UK, with only 69 pairs, all confined to Wales. Following a restocking programme beginning in 1989, in which 200 young birds from Spain and Sweden were released at key points in England and Scotland, there are now at least 431 pairs nationwide.

A spokesman for the Royal Society-for the Protection of Birds said that while the reintroduction project was a success, it was marred by the indiscriminate poisoning of wildlife.

The RSPB found evidence to suggest that 36 per cent of the birds released in Scotland had been poisoned.

Lloyd Austin, of RSPB Scotland, said: "This report into the criminal destruction of red kites underlines the urgent need for strengthened protection for wildlife."