llama.small2A nature reserve near Liverpool has hired a pair of llamas to protect the park’s bird eggs and chicks.

Graham Clarkson, an RSPB warden at Marshside, said the llamas’ aggressive behaviour made them ideal for scaring off predators such as foxes.

Llamas can spit and attack each other when provoked and also make a groaning noise when they are angry.

“Llamas are territorial and should chase away animals like foxes that can eat lapwing and redshank eggs and chicks,” said Clarkson. “We hope it will make a difference to how successful the birds are this year.

“It is particularly important that they do well as the populations of these breeding birds are threatened in the UK, so we will be monitoring the outcome of this experiment carefully.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 9:31 am and is filed under Birds, Mammals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.