Troublesome sheep fitted with electric shock collars to stop them bothering rare birds in Cumbria
A flock of troublesome sheep has been fitted with an electric shock collar to prevent them from bothering rare birds.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is testing the collars on a 26-hectare site in the Geltsdale reserve in Cumbria.
The Nofence collars work with an app to activate an ‘electrical, non-harmful pulse’ when grazing sheep get too close to where the birds are breeding.
The collars emit an audio warning before the shock, and the sheep learn to listen to the signal and step back before receiving the shock.
The Nofence collars work with an app to activate an ‘electrical, non-harmful pulse’ when grazing sheep get too close to where the birds nest
Birds such as curlew (pictured), lapwings and skylarks nest on the ground, meaning their eggs or chicks are often crushed by livestock (archive photo)
Birds such as curlews, lapwings and skylarks, whose numbers have fallen in recent decades, nest on the ground, meaning their eggs or chicks are often crushed by livestock.
Eating the vegetation around the nest also destroys the protective ‘screen’ that hides the nest from predators such as foxes.
The RSPB said: ‘It is encouraging to see that birds are already nesting in areas where collared sheep can no longer graze.’