La Mode Verte
Environmental Awareness Through Media ProductionsArchive for Police
Toy Tiger Causes Armed Police Response in Hampshire
www.telegraph.co.uk 22nd May 2011
Police are looking for the owner of a life-size toy white-tiger after it sparked an armed response from police and an evacuation of the local area. Locals to Hedge End, Southampton, Hampshire called the police after spotting the toy in a field. One reported that it moved. A police helicopter was promptly dispatched and confirmed the sighting leading to the deployment of armed officers and the evacuation of a nearby golf course. Plans were even made to close the M27 motorway in case the tiger tried to escape that way. Experts were also on hand from Marwell Zoo to advise how best to tranquillise the animal. However, after thermal imaging failed to pick up a heat source for the tiger, and after officers on the ground saw it wasn’t moving, the penny dropped. The stuffed toy then fell over in the downdraft of the helicopter’s rotor blades. The police seemed amused by the charade with a spokeswoman saying, ”it’s not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it just goes to show the diverse type of incident we are called to deal with.” The incident is now being dealt with as ‘lost-property’.
RSPB Say Landowners Should Be Punished for Bird Crime
www.telegraph.co.uk 16th September 2010
Following the second worst year for crimes against birds since records began, the RSPB have suggested that landowners should be punished if the acts occur on their estates. This would mean that the landowner would be responsible for the actions of an unscrupulous game keeper, for example. The statement came in response to last years 384 incidents of bird crime including poisoning, egg-stealing, and disruption of nests. The primary targets tended to be endangered species such as eagles, kites, hen harriers and buzzards, which tend to be considered as pests by owners and runners of grouse moors and shooting estates. For the first time, the worst offending counties have been named and shamed: North Yorkshire, West Mercia, Northumbria, Devon & Cornwall and Cumbria. All have high numbers of shooting estates. Although the local police forces have been attempting to tackle the problem for the past 20 years, death rates have not reduced. Only 2007 had more incidents than last year with 389 cases.
