A group of domestic ducks have been cruelly dumped in the wild at an Angus nature reserve.
The appearance of the distinctive Muscovy ducks in recent days has surprised visitors to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Balgavies Loch reserve just east of Forfar, but warden Jim Hughes fears the birds will die within days if they are not rounded up.
He has already captured a couple of the distinctive ducks, but is concerned the ducks will be easy prey for foxes and has condemned whoever abandoned the non-native birds in the open.
Mr Hughes believes there may be around a dozen ducks in total and they have already become a familiar sight to walkers at the popular reserve.
“I think some irresponsible person has dumped them here thinking that they’ll be okay because it’s a reserve, but they couldn’t be more wrong,” said Mr Hughes.
“They are not wild ducks. They’ve been in a domestic setting so they are running about all over the place, including the road going past the reserve.”
On theory is that the Muscovies were abandoned at the loch viewpoint, adjacent to the A932 Forfar-Arbroath road, and some of the birds have already risked their lives crossing the busy route to feed in nearby fields.
“I have managed to catch a couple of them and they are now in my run at home, which is the sort of place they should be,” added Mr Hughes.
“The rest of them often huddle around in a group but it’s difficult to catch more than one or two at a time.
“These birds will be easy prey for then foxes here and they will pick them off one at a time.”
He continued: “Someone’s possibly thought that they would take to being in a nature reserve but they are huddling together looking pretty sorry for themselves.
“It’s a sad sight to see to be honest, and if we don’t get them rounded up they won’t last long.”