Nine colourful exotic birds on an island amenity have been wiped out by a mink. The birds were killed on Pheasant Island in the Suir river in the centre of Thurles, Co Tipperary. The birds included a Lady Amherst, a Silver Pheasant, a Red Golden Pheasant, Blue-eared Pleasant and Swinhoe.
The mink was disposed of before it could kill the remaining four or five birds. Mr Sean Cooke, safety officer of the Thurles Game Preservation and Gun Dog Association, has appealed to local bird breeders to supply replacements for the dead birds.
"It will take 18 months for a chick to develop its colour. The birds which were killed were lovely. They were bred in Thurles but they have origins in places like China and the Himalayas."