Hunting down American interlopers in Europe

In today's Times, a tale of two ducks:

Neither the Spanish nor our Government will wish to hear it. Both countries are committed to spending millions to eradicate the ruddy duck — whose only crime is to be American, over-sexed and over here — to protect its close cousin, Spain’s white-headed duck.

So angered is he by what he calls “this massacre” that Mr Gullick, revered in the birding world for having spotted 8,250 species out of the world total of 9,600 — has told The Times that the Spanish white-headed duck is in fact Pakistani.

And he should know, because it was he who introduced it into Spain when the indigenous white-headed population was just one more winter’s hunting season away from extinction.

Posted by David on July 19, 2003 3:32 PM