Conservation Full Circle: Birds “Return the Favour” of Revival

British conservationists have sent more than 120 UK-born red kite chicks to Spain, helping revive populations of the same species that once rescued them from extinction.

“There’s something poetic about seeing these birds return to their ancestral skies,” said Dr Ian Evans of Natural England, who helped lead the original reintroduction efforts in the 1990s.

Red kites disappeared from most of Britain by the 1980s, surviving only in small numbers in Wales until chicks from Spain and Sweden helped restore the species. With more than 6,000 breeding pairs now thriving across the UK, British-born birds are being released in western Spain, marking a rare moment of ecological reciprocity and long-term international success in wildlife recovery.