- Every year swallows travel 8,000 kilometres from South Africa to Britain as the season turns.
- This year, one group will arrive to find their usual nesting spot, at a big Tesco supermarket in Norwich, netted off.
- Tesco says it is trying to solve a health hazard. But campaigners say it should be boycotted until it takes the nets down.
Tesco supermarkets in Britain face a boycott unless one of its stores removes netting intended to keep swallows out of their usual nesting spot.
Every year the swallows travel some 8,000 kilometres from South Africa to spend the southern winter in more hospitable climes, in one of the more epic migratory journeys on Earth. But this year one group will find their previous nests destroyed – and an anti-immigration barrier in place to keep them away.
The group has been nesting at the Harford Bridge Tesco for at least six years, according to Chris Skinner, a conservationist who has been monitoring them.
Ok everyone, some pictures including the nest the pressure washer missed, now behind netting. Horrific. @M_Z_Harrison #NoNets pic.twitter.com/J98ufiecES
— Kate Blincoe ?? (@Kateblincoe) March 14, 2019
Campaigners say the Tesco superstore in Norwich used a high-pressure water spray to remove old nests, then put up anti-bird netting to keep the swallows from returning.
Skinner told the BBC that it would have been illegal to install the netting had it been done in the swallow's nesting season, but was technically allowed because it had been done a couple of weeks before that.
Tesco said the nets were installed on expert recommendation to encourage the birds to nest at the rear of the store instead of at the front, where their droppings fall onto shopping trolleys.
The company said the droppings are "a significant health and safety risk".
Hi, the netting which has been installed at our Norwich Harford Bridge superstore has been specifically created for swallows to encourage them to nest in alternative locations. Unfortunately the droppings left by the birds are a significant health and safety risk 1/2
— Tesco (@Tesco) March 16, 2019
But Skinner argues that the poo problem could have been solved in other ways, none of which would have precluded the migratory swallows from nesting in their usual spot.
The issue has become a hot topic on Twitter, with prominent and popular calls for a boycott
Boycott @Tesco until this ridiculous netting is removed!??
— Carl Bovis (@CarlBovisNature) March 15, 2019
They can afford to employ someone to wipe the trollies down if the bird droppings are that bad!
Swallows could fly 5000 miles, negotiating the Sahara desert, only to get killed by Tescos nets!
https://t.co/8SHHc6T7xm
I won't be shopping at any Tescos until you take the netting down in Norwich so the Swallows can nest. They were there before you. Move the trollys @Tesco #swallows #tesco #tescoboycott #norwich
— Natalie Clark (@Natalie58769840) March 16, 2019
Don't just boycott @Tesco until the Swallow netting is taken down. Boycott them for life. They are responsible for so much that is wrong in the countryside. A single pair of Swallow doesn't even register.
— James Watson (@jpawatson) March 15, 2019
But a petition around the issue had failed to gained traction by mid Saturday morning, with only 20 people signing up to demand Tesco remove the netting.
The UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it would be meeting with the supermarket chain to find a solution.
Further to discussions with @Tesco today, we will be meeting with their Harford Bridge store team to work towards finding a solution to look after the returning swallows. We will update once we have further news. ???? pic.twitter.com/PNaViyu3KS
— RSPB (@Natures_Voice) March 15, 2019
Listen to conservationist Chris Skinner discussing the anti-swallow netting on BBC radio.
For more, go to Business Insider South Africa.
Receive a single WhatsApp every morning with all our latest news: click here.
Also from Business Insider South Africa:
- The definitions of micro, small, and medium businesses have just been radically overhauled – here’s how
- The 4 funniest 'miracle water' videos in South Africa right now - including one from the German embassy
- Standard Bank's branch closures: The most radical single action by a SA bank in decades
- Here’s why Discovery stopped paying for annual pap smears and mammograms
- Steinhoff crooks should be behind bars, believes former director Johan van Zyl