Young falcon on the mend after being peppered with shotgun

A young peregrine falcon shot down illegally near Long Melford is “on the mend”, according to the animal expert caring for her.

The rare bird of prey was blasted from the sky with a shotgun. Bird protection charity the RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction for the crime.

The peregrine, whose numbers have increased in the UK to about 1,400 breeding pairs, is considered a rare bird and it is an offence under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act to intentionally kill or injure it.

The juvenile was found by a member of the public on a footpath by Chad Brook River near Long Melford. They thought it had accidentally flown into a fence and was just stunned.

Peppered with shot from the shotgun and with a broken wing, it was taken to Mulberry Court vets in Sudbury.

And it is now being looked after by falconry expert Stephen Younge at the Lavenham Falconry Centre in Monks Eleigh.

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