Bird of prey 'still living wild'

Emmy, aged two, flew away during a display at The Bird of Prey Centre at Old Warden Park near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, on Wednesday.

Her owners received reports that she had been mobbed by angry crows, was hit by a car on the A1M motorway and had been spotted 50 miles (80km) from home.

She was bred in captivity and has never been in the wild before.

The centre has received calls from as far away as Braintree in Essex and Great Cambourne in Cambridgeshire following appeals.

Mobbed

One caller said the vulture had eaten nuts from his house in Luton, 15 miles (24km) away.

"The crows were very agitated so something may have happened."
Maggie Gooden, who runs the centre

Two others reported seeing her in the wild, hours before she went missing.

Maggie Gooden, who runs the centre with her husband Phil, said: "The most positive sighting is from a woman in Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire, which is just a mile away. She said she saw it being mobbed by crows that were nesting in trees with their young.

"We got out there as quickly as we could but there was no trace. The crows were very agitated so something may have happened."

Emmy is worth between £2,500 and £3,000. She lives with two other vultures, Daisy and Oscar.

In Africa vultures can hit a warm thermal high and soar at up to 10,000ft (3048m).

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