Rare Red Kite found peppered with shotgun pellets fails to recover

The bird, which was discovered at Sleap, near Wem, on February 2, had been recovering at a specialist wildlife centre.

During what was expected to be its last examination before it was released, vets discovered the bird was virtually blind – and they believe it may have been shot at more than once before.

The Red Kite was being cared for at the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre near Whitchurch.

The bird, which has a wingspan of 2m (5.5ft), was motionless when it was found by a member of the public and x-rays showed shotgun pellets in its body.

The bird damaged its eye when it plummeted on to an electric fence after being shot.

Centre manager Lee Stewart said: "Sadly, the examination showed the kite to be blind in his left eye and impaired in his right eye, hence why he had some flying issues.

"The injuries were probably a result of the crash and not the pellets but it is hard to say. The pellets were not fresh and may have been there a while, it could be two separate cases."

Staff at the RSPCA had been concerned with its vision from initial examinations and in recent days had seen the bird crash landing several times.

Mr Stewart said the bird was showing signs of recovery up until the beginning of last week, but was put to sleep over the weekend

"There was no way we could have released him like that," he said.

"The team worked really hard to get him going and this is such a shame," he added.