Heartbreaking images show herring gull struggling to fly with plastic bag wrapped around its feet and body over Cheshire nature reserve
- Distressing images were captured by a walker over Parkgate reserve in Cheshire
- Pictures show herring gull with plastic bag engulfing legs and most of its body
- RSPCA says it received an estimated 5,000 calls a year about litter and animals
Distressing images have been captured showing a gull struggling to fly with a plastic bag wrapped around its body in a series of heart-breaking pictures.
The juvenile Herring Gull was photographed with its feet and chest entangled in the large orange and green bag.
The heart-breaking pictures were taken by photographer Gray Eaton, while walking at Parkgate reserve, a vast saltmarsh by the River Dee in Cheshire.
Distressing images of a gull struggling to fly while wrapped in plastic were taken in Cheshire
The pictures were captured by walker Gray Eaton over the Parkgate nature reserve in Cheshire
He said: ‘I was taking my daily walk when I looked up and saw the gull with the plastic bag wrapped around it.’
There is now so much plastic waste that it is found in 90 per cent of seabirds and almost all of them will be consuming it by 2050.
The RSPCA says it receives around 5,000 calls a year regarding litter, stating wildlife are the main victims when it comes to people’s rubbish – particularly wild birds.
Overall, the animal welfare charity has recorded a rise in incidents affecting animals involving plastic litter from 473 in 2015 to 579 in 2018, with a fourfold rise in seals affected by incidents – 28 recorded in 2018 compared to just 5 in 2015.
Incidents have involved tin cans, plastic bottles, elastic bands, and many different types of angling litter.
Wildlife are the main victims, including birds, deer and sealife, but cats and dogs can also get trapped in rubbish.
RSPCA says it receives around 5,000 calls a year regarding litter particularly affecting birds
The charity says that is an average of 18 incidents a day as it warns everyday objects, when discarded, can become lethal to animals.
Meanwhile, since the pandemic began, face masks have become a new hazard to wildlife in the UK.
The problem prompted the RSPCA to urge mask-wearers to snip the straps on the masks to make them safer.
Waste collection specialists BusinessWaste.com estimates that the country’s councils are set to spend between £20,000 and £100,000 of taxpayers’ money clearing up littered face masks.
The RSPCA has been contacted for comment.