Several birds have died after getting caught in netting placed under a Welsh railway bridge. Around 10 pigeons are thought to have died after becoming trapped in the netting placed under Pontypridd Railway Bridge, near the town's station. The netting was in place for over two weeks.
While some birds were caught in the netting but survived, several others sadly died. Transport for Wales who placed the "bird proof netting" said it was removed after they were made aware of the animals becoming trapped. They say this took a few days to fully implement as a closure of the road and railway line was necessary to carry out the work.
One woman who filmed the birds trapped but wished not to be named said that she first noticed the netting over two weeks ago while heading into the town centre, and had been monitoring it since. She claims that at least 10 birds died, while several others were trapped.
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Distressing footage of the netting shared online shows at least five trapped at that point, with some already dead. Other people have also shared photos of corpses of birds that have failed to the ground after dying in the nets.
The netting was removed this week (the week starting October 10) and took several days to fully remove. Transport for Wales said that the netting was essential to the structure of the bridge.
Leyton Powell, Transport for Wales Safety, Sustainability and Risk Director, said: “At TfW our impact on the local biodiversity is important to us, and we have established programs in place to balance the health and safety of our customers and colleagues, with the wellbeing of wildlife.
“Since becoming aware of birds becoming trapped under the Pontypridd High Street Bridge, we have been working with our asset managers Amey Infrastructure Wales to find out how the birds are getting inside the bird-proof netting and resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible.
“A closure of the road and railway line was put in place and work has been carried out to remove the current meshing, release trapped birds, clean the area and improve the protection further to prevent reoccurrence.
“The bird-proof netting is an essential safety requirement to protect both the bridge structure and pedestrians using the footpath below.
“Throughout this process we have been in contact with the RSPCA and the local authority, and they are both in agreement with the actions being taken.”
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