Eradication of Ruddy Ducks in the UK to protect the White-headed Duck
LIFE Project Number - LIFE05 NAT/UK/000142
The white-headed duck is a globally threatened species with a world population of only 10,000. Around 2,500 of these are found in Spain - the population having recovered from near extinction in the 1970s. The main risk to the survival of the white-headed duck is hybridisation with the introduced North American ruddy duck. Ruddy ducks were introduced to the UK in the 1940s. They established a feral population after some escaped and this numbered 6,000 by January 2000. Around 95% of the feral European population occurs in the UK.
The objective of this programme is to eradicate ruddy ducks in Europe to ensure the continued survival of the white-headed duck as a distinct species.
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 Global
distribution of white-headed ducks |
 White-headed
duck (Oxyura leucocephala) |
Ruddy
duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)Reports on project progress
- 1st Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin - November 2006
- 2nd Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin - April 2007
- 3rd Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin - September 2007
Information
Protecting the white-headed duck leaflet
Protecting
the white headed duck- report
Question and answers (prepared by Defra)
White-headed duck task force recommendations
on eradiaction of ruddy duck.
Defra control trial report
Link to non-native species
secretariat fact sheet
Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
Maps
 UK ruddy duck sites |
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Links
EU Life Programme
Defra
Central Science Laboratory
Ministry of Environment,
Department of biodiversity- Spain
Sponsored by:
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