TWO ducks have been culled on a Weymouth nature reserve as part of an action plan to save an endangered species- but twitchers say they are appalled the cull took place in nesting season.

The two male ruddy ducks were ‘culled humanely’ at the Lodmoor Nature Reserve, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed.

A Defra spokesman said: “Two ruddy ducks have been humanely culled as part of a programme to help the survival of the white-headed duck, which is under threat in Europe and Asia.”

Spokesman for the RSPB, Grahame Madge, said that the charity's only involvement was because the ruddy ducks were on an RSPB nature reserve.

Mr Madge added that DEFRA carried out the culls with a minimum of disruption to other wildlife and at a time when no visitors would be on the reserve.

He said: “Lodmoor is a very important site for the RSPB and for conservation in general. It’s imperative there’s a minimum of disruption to the site.”

Speaking about the history of the issue, Mr Madge said the ruddy duck was a native species to the Americas. A small number of individuals escaped from captivity in the UK in the 1950s and established themselves.

They eventually spread into Europe where they started to interbreed with Spain’s endangered white-headed duck. The fear was that the white-headed duck would become hybridised and would go extinct.

The UK government has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, which says thy are prepared to take action over international conservation issues.

And so the culls have been carried out to reduce the population of ruddy ducks.

The RSPB accepts the need for the cull, even though Mr Madge said it had been a ‘difficult decision.’

But bird lovers say they are concerned about the timing of the cull. Daragh Croxson watches the birds at Lodmoor each morning.

He said: “What I and other bird watchers are really appalled by is not the shooting per se but the timing. Mid-April is the most sensitive time for a whole range of breeding birds on Lodmoor. The last three mornings the gunmen have inevitably caused huge disturbance to nesting birds.”

He added: “Whatever the case might be for a cull it should not, in our view, be carried out at a time that puts the welfare of literally hundreds of other breeding birds in jeopardy.”

Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in south Dorset Jane Burnet said that it was important that the cull was carried out humanely and with experts including the RSPB agreeing it was necessary.

She said it was important to take a look at the bigger picture.

She said: “I think we do need to co-operate on a local, national and international scale in terms of how we deal with threatened species of wildlife, much as it’s regrettable.”