Sheep are being fitted with electric shock collars to stop them disturbing rare birds

SHEEP are being fitted with electric shock collars to stop them disturbing ground-nesting rare birds.

The Nofence technology lets farmers set aside safe pasture areas using an app, which then communicates with the grazers’ neck-worn gadgets.

The devices sound an alarm to warn the woolly wanderers if they stray out of bounds — followed by a “humane” shock if they continue to do so.

The system is used to keep flocks away from areas designated for birds including curlew, lapwings and skylarks, which nest on the ground.

Sheep often trample their nests and eat the long grass which hides eggs from predators such as foxes.

The RSPB says the threatened bird species are already nesting in the new sheep-free zones at Geltsdale Nature Reserve, in Cumbria, where a trial has been carried out.

Warden Ian Ryding said “Ground-nesting birds urgently need our help.

Already, these birds are nesting, sitting on their eggs, so this is encouraging to see, and the first lapwing chicks are expected in the next couple of weeks.”

Farmer Ian Bell said: “We train the sheep to go exactly where we want them to.

“This technology appears to be better than a stone wall.”