- The RSPB is trialling the measure to stop one herd in Cumbria hassling birds
A flock of troublesome sheep have been fitted with electric shock collars to stop them bothering rare birds.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is trialling the collars on a 26-acre site at its Geltsdale reserve in Cumbria.
The Nofence collars work with an app to trigger an ‘electric non-harmful pulse’ when grazing sheep get too close to where the birds are nesting.
The collars emit an audio warning before the shock, and the sheep learn to listen to the cue and step back before they get the jolt.
The Nofence collars work with an app to trigger an ‘electric non-harmful pulse’ when grazing sheep get too close to where the birds are nesting
Birds such as curlew (pictured), lapwings and skylarks, nest on the ground, meaning their eggs or chicks often get squashed by livestock (File photo)
Birds such as curlew, lapwings and skylarks, whose numbers have tumbled in recent decades, nest on the ground, meaning their eggs or chicks often get squashed by livestock.
Eating the vegetation around the nest also destroys the protective ‘screen’ which hides the nest from predators such as foxes.
The RSPB said: ‘It’s encouraging to see birds already nesting in areas where the collared sheep have been stopped from grazing.’
