A man has been cautioned for shooting rooks and supplying them to restaurants, police said. The 45 year-old, who has not been named, was arrested after the Taverner's restaurant in Godshill, Isle of Wight, was discovered to have started serving rook salad.
Yesterday, officials confirmed the man, from Ryde, Isle of Wight, had been issued with a caution following a joint investigation Natural England and Hampshire Police. The man was arrested in June on suspicion of committing a number of offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Rooks and other wild birds, except wood pigeons, are legally protected and their sale for human consumption is illegal. Rooks can, however, be controlled under special circumstances under a General Licence issued by Natural England.
The investigation found the man shot up to 30 fledgling rooks and sold them to a meat wholesaler, who sold them on to the restaurant for human consumption.
He faced a maximum ÂŁ5000 fine and a jail sentence of up to six months for each bird shot.
Officials said advice letters had been sent to the wholesaler, who has also not been named, and local restaurant owners requesting they stop selling the rooks immediately.
In May bird conservationists for people to boycott the Taverner's restaurant after it started serving the salad.
The Taverner's chef-proprietor Roger Serjent, 40, whose gastro-pub has been featured in the Michelin Eating-Out Guide, said yesterday that he had bought the rook in good faith from a local butcher, who did not want to name.
“From my perspective we bought it completely innocently from the butcher,” he said. “Afterwards we found out it was not legal. I had a lot of hate mail over it so I just want it to go away now.”
He declined to comment further.
Paul Cantwell, Natural England’s Species Enforcement Officer, said: “Like all wild birds, rooks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and their sale for human consumption – with the single exception of the wood pigeon – is illegal.
“While the control of rooks is allowed under some circumstances, the sale of wild birds is restricted because we would not want to encourage their killing, purely to supply a demand for human consumption and trade.”
