A CRANE released through a special conservation project has been found shot dead on a Somerset farm.

The body of Swampy, a female crane, released through the Great Crane Project in 2011, was found by a local farmer in a maize field in late September.

The body was handed into the project team, and it was sent, as with any recovered dead crane, for a full post-mortem.

The post mortem found four embedded metallic objects by CT scan, one of which was located through examination and has been identified as gun-shot.

Damien Bridge from the Great Crane Project said: "The conclusion is that the most likely cause of death was shooting.

"The details have been reported to the police, as the shooting of a crane is a wildlife crime. Cranes can not be legally shot in the UK, and we are offering a £1,000 reward for any information leading to a conviction for this crime.

"The project team and police are now working hard to continue to raise awareness of the presence of the birds, and their legal status, amongst the shooting and wildfowling communities.

"What is particular galling and frustrating is that Swampy was the Project’s best breeding female – having successfully raised two chicks to fledge in Somerset in 2015, and another this year.

"She would have been highly likely to go on and make many more successful breeding attempts had her life not been cut short.

"She was also a project favourite, having been nursed back to health following an incident in September 2011 when she became trapped behind a gate within the crane pen shortly after release."