Sheep Herded with Special Collars to Protect Birds
{Sheep Herded with Special Collars – Moving away from physical field and farm boundaries is an interesting concept – Earth and Leaf Editorial}
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Grazing sheep herded with special collars to help them create nesting environments for threatened birds.
RSPB Geltsdale in Cumbria is trialling the use of Nofence collars, which alert sheep when they leave designated areas.
This keeps them grazing within “invisible” fences, where the animals can create clear spaces for ground-nesting birds to live.
RSPB Geltsdale in Cumbria is trialling the use of Nofence collars, which alert sheep when they leave designated areas.
This keeps them grazing within “invisible” fences, where the animals can create clear spaces for ground-nesting birds to live.
The RSPB said it was “encouraging” to see birds already nesting in areas where the sheep herded with special collars had been grazing.
The flock of 22 Herdwick sheep are owned by Ian Bell, a farmer at Tarnhouse Farm, who said he wanted to manage the land to create a “mosaic of habitats” for wildlife.
“Herdwicks are notorious escape artists and certain individuals have a complete disregard for field boundaries. However, we have managed to train the sheep to go exactly where we want them to,” he said.
“The technology appears to be better than a stone wall.”