Students raise funds for Great Bustards (From Salisbury Journal)

Students raise funds for Great Bustards

10:32am Wednesday 26th November 2008 in News By Morwenna Blake

THE Great Bustard project at Salisbury Plain has received a boost through the efforts of Wiltshire College students.

Over £700 has been raised for the Great Bustard Group based on Salisbury Plain through activities by second-year students on the foundation degree animal science and management course at the college’s Lackham site.

These included a sponsored dog walk and a stall at the college’s annual lambing weekend.

Students handed over a cheque to David Waters, director of the Great Bustard Group at his home near Salisbury on Friday, where they got the chance to meet Fergus, a friendly Great Bustard.

He said: “The support of the students from Lackham has been a real boost to the Great Bustard Project and it is very fitting that the Wiltshire College is supporting Wiltshire’s County bird in this way”

The reintroduction of the Great Bustard, Wiltshire’s county bird, to the UK after an absence of 178 years has been proving very successful.

The first release was in 2004 and they have been conducted annually since then. A small but stable population has been established on Salisbury Plain and breeding behaviour has also been seen in the released birds.

The money raised will go towards the cost of providing the project with a vehicle to help monitor the Bustards and enable visitors to the centre to see them.