Exclusive by Alan Smith

ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk

Leeds Castle’s popular aviary is to close.

The castle's trustees have decided the aviary is no longer “a sustainable part of the castle’s activities.”

But visitors will still have the chance to see the extensive collection of exotic birds until around April next year.

The closure date has been set for October 2012, giving the castle time to find suitable homes for the birds.

Six bird-keepers will be made redundant, but trustees plan to offer them a package or the opportunity to to take alternative employment on the castle estate.

There are currently 100 pairs ranging from parrots, through kookaburras and toucans, to avocets. About half the birds are not owned by the castle but are on loan from other collections. They will be returned.

Chief executive Victoria Wallace (pictured left) said: “The trustees of the Leeds Castle Foundation reached this decision with considerable regret.

"But they believe it would be in the best interests of the birds if they were moved to dedicated zoological collections, whose primary focus is in conservation of endangered species.”

The castle foundation expects the closure will save £200,000 a year, money it proposes to channel into the preservation of the castle building and its collections.

Mrs Wallace said: “The aviary was conceived as an added attraction for visitors, inspired by Lady Baillie’s own love of birds. But zoo collections are now all about global conservation, research and education, rather than entertainment.

"Those high standards are very difficult to achieve without the expert backing of a major zoological institution. As a heritage charity, it just doesn’t fit with the many other calls on our income, which is necessarily devoted to preserving the 900-year-old castle.”

The castle foundation is in the middle of a long-term project to restore the decaying ragstone castle walls.

Leeds Castle’s collection of water fowl and peacocks, which roam freely through the grounds, are unaffected.