Police not doing enough to protect birds on Thames, charity says

Police are not doing enough to protect waterbirds on the River Thames from attack by humans, according to a charity.

Wendy Hermon of Swan Support said "there's not a week gone by" when the charity hasn't been called to reports of birds being shot – and she believes Thames Valley Police doesn't treat wildlife crime as a priority.

She told the Slough & South Bucks Observer: "There's not a week gone by where we're not having swans that have been shot and catapulted and not just swans. It's getting ridiculous now. We're having regular meetings with Thames Valley Police. Out main issue was we didn't think TVP were doing enough for wildlife crime compared to other police forces."

A Mute Swan that was shot near Wraysbury in April (Swan Support).

Wildlife attacks

Ms Hermon claims that when the charity – which rescues injured birds – reported incidents, police would log the complaint but do little to investigate. She feels the police doesn't treat attacks wildlife as seriously as it should do – arguing that perpetrators can escalate commit other crimes.

She said: "Swan Support appreciates there can be more urgent cases that need to be dealt with but we feel that wildlife crime is not very high up on their list. Sometimes police say they're doing something and nothing happens."

In a recent Facebook post, Swan Support said the recent school half term had been ‘'horrendous" for bird attacks – adding that Windsor was a "hot-spot". The charity said that "a number of pigeons, three geese, two ducks and one Eurasian Coot" had all been killed across four evenings, and that the incidents had been reported to police.

The post said: "We are proactively working with Thames Valley Police. Let's all work together to hopefully stop these attacks or get those responsible arrested and punished!"

Wendy Hermon said she believed young people are mostly behind the crimes. She said: "Shooting animals – not just swans and birds – leads onto other things as they get older. It's not just swans and birds that suffer, it's animals – cats and dogs. We've had calls about dogs being hit in Datchet."