Ladbrokes Betting have teamed up with the Conservation Foundation and the Tasmanian State Government to launch this year's "Ladbrokes Big Bird Race.
The RSPB bird Avocet is now outright favourite at 4/7, followed Ronnie O'Sullivan sponsored bird Rocket at 4/1.
Ladbrokes Big Bird Betting Odds
05 - Avocet - RSPB 4/7
01 - The Rocket - Ronnie O'Sullivan 4/1
04 - Eighteen Stone of Idiot - Johnny Vegas 5/1
16 - White Mirabelle - Marco Pierre White 8/1
14 - Voyager - Heather Mills McCartney 16/1
07 - Emu - Birds Australia 50/1
03 - Romford Slim - Steve Davis 50/1
Each-way bets 1/4 odds first 2 birds
Others Birds On Request
Big Bird Race Entries
♠ The Rocket, owned by Ronnie O'Sullivan
♠ Kubla Khan, owned by Nicholas Coleridge
♠ Romford Slim, owned by Steve Davis
♠ Eighteen stone of Idiot, owned by Johnny Vegas
♠ Avocet, owned by RSPB
♠ Soul of the Wind, owned by Sir David Attenborough
♠ Emu, owned by Birds Australia
♠ Tern, Birdlife
♠ Mobi, owned by Ellen MacArthur
♠ Ecologist Junior, owned by Zac Goldsmith
♠ Fleetwood, owned by Johnnie Walker
♠ Geronimo, owned by Olivia Newton-John
♠ Wotan, owned by Bryn Terfel
♠ Voyager, owned by Heather Mills McCartney
♠ Rocco, owned by Frankie Dettorie
♠ White Mirabelle, owned by Marco Pierre White
♠ Parkie, owned my Michael Parkinson
Why Have A Big Bird Race?Hundreds of thousands of seabirds are dying unnecessarily in the Southern Ocean due to poorly managed
longline fishing techniques and thousands of baited hooks on lines of up to 130 kilometres, dragged behind boats - drowning the birds by dragging them for miles underwater.
It is estimated that 300,000 seabirds die from longlining each year, with many
albatross species facing the very real threat of extinction as a direct result. The situation is as serious as the fate dolphins faced from tuna fishing in the 1980s, before public awareness and pressure brought about a change in fishing techniques.
Ladbrokes hope that the project will help capture the imagination of the public and encourage more countries to sign the Agreement for the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) ACAP requires signatory states to take specific measures to reduce seabird by-catch from longline fishing and improve the conservation status of the birds. Britain, Australia and New Zealand have all signed this agreement, but many more countries (such as France) need to do so if albatrosses are to be saved.
Big Bird Race Project NewsLadbrokes Big Bird Race Information Centre
