Poisoning suspected after ravens' deaths in Shropshire
A wildlife rescue centre is investigating amid suspicions that a number of ravens have been poisoned in Shropshire.
Cuan Wildlife Rescue Centre was contacted by a man who had found a group of dead birds in a field in the county, and brought the remaining survivor to the centre in an effort to save its life.
The bird was kept at the centre in Much Wenlock overnight, but suffered a violent fit and died the next morning.
Volunteer Dani Peat had cared for the bird. She said: "There was something suspicious. He was very stressed so we put him on a heat pad and darkened the cage.
"He had a violent fit the next day which didn't last very long but he died pretty much straight away. That would lead us to believe that could have been what happened to the other ravens as well. It's suspected poisoning.
"He was sent off for an autopsy and toxicology report, which should take around a week."
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, requested the autopsy to discover what happened to it.
The centre said the bird was found around the Shropshire border, but didn't want to say specifically where.
Ms Peat said: "Without doing an autopsy on all of them we can't presume but as they have all died in a similar area it would lead us to suspect something wasn't right.
"If it is poisoning, it's an illegal act. If it was, we don't know how it was distributed, and there could be a risk of the same thing happening to other animals."
She added: "It was just a stunning, stunning bird, it's just so tragic really.
"It was very heavy and the sheer size of it, it was a lot heavier than a buzzard.
"There's a lot of bad omens about ravens that people still believe but they're just birds trying to make their way in life."
Fran Hill, manager of the wildlife charity, said the man had instantly seen there was something wrong with the bird, and brought it into the centre.
"The bird was here for one night, kept on a heat pad, and was relatively quiet," she said.
"There were no injuries, nothing to suggest any foul play at that point. Had we not been told about the other five ravens we perhaps wouldn't have thought anything of it."
