Bird Aid : 'Urgent help needed' for Hailsham gull sanctuary

These herring gulls will have to be put down if the money is not found, as no other sanctuary can take them

A bird charity has just four months to save itself, and the thousands of injured gulls it cares for.

Bird Aid's sanctuary in Hailsham, East Sussex, houses 250 attacked or injured birds at any one time, including 100 permanent residents.

It needs £170,000 to buy the land it's on, after an investor pulled out.

Owner Julia Gould said: "We need help, time is nearly out. We're the only gull rescue centre in the country, we're vital, without us thousands will die."

Julia Gould says the charity is doing well to support itself with donations, but needs this one-off cash injection

Herring gulls are on the RSBPs red list for threatened birds, as the species has seen a sharp decrease in population over last 25 years.

Mrs Gould has been operating the centre for eight years and said she has seen some horrific injuries to the seaside birds.

One came in with a broken leg, wing and ribs after being "beaten to near death" by a man in Eastbourne.

It recovered but due to neurological damage can never be released back into the wild.

Baby gulls, which start life spotted, are often brought in when they fall out of nest, or nests are destroyed

"People attack them, throw them into bins, it's horrendous," she said.

Gulls from across the country are taken to Bird Aid, and people from all over the world ring Mrs Gould for advice on caring for injured gulls.

"People call them a nuisance, but they adapt to us. They're not wanted on the beach, we keep building hotels, houses, towns on the beachfront and they're not wanted there either.

"They need to live somewhere. They have a right to be here, and be treated kindly."

Fishing line is a common cause of injuries for the birds

Mrs Gould set up the rescue when she noticed how gulls "always seemed to come last" with other wildlife charities.

She said it was a huge shame as the monogamous birds are "incredibly friendly, chilled out, accepting, clean, and full of personality".

The centre has people with learning disabilities volunteering and interacting with the birds, and regularly welcomes visitors from special needs schools.

Gulls mate for life and can live about 25 years

"I know they have a reputation for stealing people's food, but they're not nasty birds and they have no talons, no hooked beak, no weapons," Mrs Gould said.

"It's a shame Brighton or Sussex doesn't adopt them as our county bird and do more to appreciate and protect them.

"The seaside wouldn't be the same without them."

Mrs Gould said gulls are clean and do not carry diseases, they end up at Bird Aid through injury

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