It has come to my attention that there is a petition going around to stop a pub in the Isle of Wight from serving Rook Pie. The accompanying letter says: 'It appears the serving of Rook is not legal'
Does anyone know what the current law on this is; as Rooks are legally allowed to be killed and as far as I know there is no law saying you cannot eat them afterwards?
They are calling for people to tell the RSPB and the police about this 'wildlife crime' - poor old RSPB - surely they've got better things to spend their hard earned cash on than responding to reports such as this? And the police are far more worried about real wildlife crime amongst all the other things they have to deal with?
Things are stretched enough without badly educated people wasting valuable resources.
They are combining this petition with one to stop the killing of parakeets in the south east - surely they know better than to stop this sensible idea? Parakeets are damaging to our native wildlife and there are so few of them at the moment that irradicating them from the UK early would be the best idea? Shame this didn't happen with other alien invaders to our shores (grey squirrels and mink to name but a few...)
Maybe we should do more to educate the general public better on what is good for wildlife and what our laws are that help with this?
I understood that Rooks along with other birds could only be killed under general licence and it had to be proved they were a pest but there are others on the forum better qualified on the legal situation
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Hi Anna
I can only refer you to the RSPB web-site pages on Wild Birds and the Law Here ,and the exceptions are mentioned in the separate link on the left hand side of the page.
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
I don't know the answer but rooks are an old source of food.
I saw a documentry once and people were still living to tell tales of climbing to the rooks nests and tie the chicks feet together so they couldnt fledge. this made the parents feed the chicks longer in the nest and fattened up the chics for eating. Not sure if was River cottage with Hugh Fearnly (think thats his name) So it could be legal.
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic
Sorry can't help re legality of rook pie, but I'd heard that the crow family had 'black' meat + it was only ever eaten as a last resort.
'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks' John Muir.
Excuse wobbily dyslexic spelling!
LICENCE (General) WML - GL04
To kill or take certain wild birds to prevent serious damage or disease; Issued under Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) [“the Act”]; WML - GL04
www.naturalengland.org.uk/.../wml-gl04_tcm6-24149.pdf
Under the limits of this license, see paragraph h):
h) Birds killed or taken under this licence may be eaten, but, with the exception of the woodpigeon (Columba palumbus), may not be sold for human consumption.
Therefore, it is illegal to sell rook meat in a pub. It is also illegal to disturb nesting birds under the WCA 1981, which includes corvids, unless they pose a direct risk to public safety or health. This exception, once again is regulated by WML - GL04.
that sums it up perfect Stephan
Stephan is on the right tracks with his response, our advice to anyone seeing rooks being offered for sale in this way would be to contact Natural England, the governments wildlife and licensing section, to find out if they have provided a specific licence for this.
If no specific licence has been granted for this then it would be illegal and we would advise that the police should be informed as an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 has been committed.
Just to confirm, it is an offence to intentionally damage or destroy the active nests of rooks and to intentionally kill, injure or take them from the wild. You can read about the exceptions to this protection here or on the link that Stephan provided.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
Hi Stephen
Your thoughts are well expressed here - the things that we find out in the real world of wildlife which do cause our jaws to drop in a big way.
Awful to thing that our 'intelligent' Corvids are being taken on as a joke with some people.
Simply cruel
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Just a little update regarding this issue discussed above...
www.iwcp.co.uk/.../farmer-criticises-barmy-arrest-over-rook-39697.aspx
Enjoy!
Regards,
Stephan.
and a further update.....Daily Telegraph article