9:47am Thursday 20th May 2010
Dog owners visiting the Yorkshire Dales are being asked to help make life easier for ground-nesting birds and their young by keeping their pets on leads.
More than 60 per cent of land in the national park is accessible to the public and much of it is the habitat of ground-nesting birds like the skylark, the red grouse, the curlew, the lapwing and the oystercatcher.
Alan Hulme, the national park’s ranger services manager, said: “The next few months are vitally important for the ground-nesting birds that live in the national park and we are asking people to remember that dogs don’t mix with them. A dog may mean no harm to birds but, as far as they are concerned, your pet is a predator that could threaten both them and their young.
“While parent birds are taking evasive action to lure the dog away from the nest, the eggs could get cold or be taken by scavengers like crows and newly-hatched birds could die of exposure.”
Mr Hulme said that all visitors had a responsibility to protect the countryside, to respect wildlife and farm animals and to follow the Countryside Code.
The national park authority has produced a leaflet – The Big Five – which gives information about the main types of ground-nesting birds found in the area and lists ways that visitors can help minimise disturbance.
Copies can be found in national park centres around the Dales.
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