CULL: Spain hunts for marksmen to eradicate parakeet problem

A TEAM of snipers are being sought by environment experts to patrol parks in Spain to eradicate wild parakeets.
The population of the birds has apparently soared to uncontrollable numbers since they were first introduced to the country as pets in the 1970s.
Their vast numbers are now ‘overshadowing quieter native fauna’ and ‘threatening to destabilise the ecosystem’.
Environmental experts in Malaga, home to one of the largest colonies of the bright green and grey-breasted birds, have now proposed that the best way to control their population is by sending teams of snipers to shoot them down.
A panel of experts at an environmental forum at Malaga’s UNED university last week came up with recommendations to control the population, estimated at 30,000 in Malaga alone.
Classified as an invasive species, Spanish authorities are allowed to take measures to cull them, and in 2011 sales of the bird were banned in the country in the hope of preventing more from finding their way into the wild.