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Ruddy Duck Project
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) |
Reports on project progres:
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 1
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 2
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 3
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 4
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 5
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 6
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 7
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 8
- Ruddy Duck eradication bulletin 9
- Ruddy Duck eradication - project newsletter March 2015
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.
- Link to non-native species secretariat fact sheet
- Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
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