A young kestrel which was originally found on the grounds of a church yard in Waterford has been rewilded.
The endangered red-listed bird was found by a member of the public who was 'anxious' about leaving the young bird.
The Irish Times reports that the kestrel spent four months at a wildlife rehabilitation hospital run by the voluntary organisation Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland.
The hospital opened in February of this year to save injured, sick and orphaned wild animals. To date, the hospital has rewilded 10 fox cubs, 12 hedgehogs, two buzzards and three otters into the estate grounds.
Aoife McPartlin, education officer at WRI told the paper the bird was “raring to go – As soon as we took her out she took straight up into the trees, it was lovely.”
The kestrel is a species of falcon. Ms McPartlin said it would have been in danger of being attacked by another animal if somebody had not intervened.
Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan, who attended the release, said to recognise the contribution of the WRI he will be allocating €20,000 in emergency funding to the organisation.
“My department will consider a dedicated grant scheme for organisations assisting injured or abandoned wildlife, along with other departments.
“While the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s role is licensing the handling of wildlife, we value the efforts of WRI and other charities as we work together to address the biodiversity emergency.”
Kestrels have declined in Ireland by 53 per cent over the past 25 years and became a red-listed endangered species in April of this year. Ms McPartlin says it is because “land use and farming methods have diminished its habitat.
“There is just less and less area for it to survive in, that is the problem. We are impacting on its environment so greatly that its numbers have declined so much in the last 10 years that they have been declared as a bird of conservation.”
The kestrel was released back into nature at Dunsany Castle, Co Meath on Tuesday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times
