CALLOUS youngsters are being blamed for shooting a Canada goose, which had been nesting on the island in Knox's Pond in the Deadwater Valley.
The dead goose was found on the pond on Monday morning by walker Philip Drury. He had been in the Deadwater Valley taking photos of the wildlife.
Naturalist Mr Drury had been studying the pair of nesting geese on the island in the hope they would produce goslings.
He said: "They were probably nesting at the time, as the goose had been sitting on the nest and it's been there for a couple of weeks."
An off-duty police officer helped Mr Drury to remove the body of the bird from the water.
"He helped me to put it in the bushes so that children did not see it. It would have been dreadful and quite a shock for them to see it."
While moving the dead goose, Mr Drury noticed it had two pellet marks in the back of its neck.
He claims two youths were seen in the Deadwater Valley woods last Saturday evening carrying an air rifle.
Had the shooting not happened, he believed the geese could have returned to the island in the pond year after year.
"That would have been quite a nice sight for the local enthusiasts and the young children, but that is'nt going to be the case now."
Mr Drury said he was shocked that anyone could be so callous as to shoot the wildlife in the Deadwater Valley.
"I think there must be a serious problem with them and I think that parents should never let children out with an air rifle or any other weapon."
Deadwater Valley ranger Mike Wearing condemned the actions. He said: "It's not a place to be firing air rifles and it's just a sad reflection on the attitude of certain people."
Mr Wearing said it was the first time a pair of Canada geese had nested in the Deadwater and people had been enjoying watching the geese.