WORKERS at a North-East wildlife centre described their shock yesterday at discovering the theft of some of the rarest birds in the world and the senseless killing of others.

A breeding programme for the endangered white-winged ducks, from Sumatra, has been dealt a blow after a pair were stolen from the Washington Wetlands Centre, Wearside.

Warden Darren Grieves arrived at work, on Tuesday, to discover intruders had broken through a chain link fence.

As well as the white-winged ducks, two Phillipine ducks and one marbled teal were stolen and staff discovered several dead birds in the same area.

Andrew Donnison, manager of the centre, which specialises in breeding endangered species, said last night: "It is unbelievable that people can carry out such sick acts of vandalism and cruelty.

"Whatever the reason for the thefts, there can be no reason or excuse for the cruel way these harmless ducks have been killed.

"One of the birds was headless and the others, we believe, had been hit against something, although we are awaiting a full postmortem on them."

Among the birds found killed was a mandarin duck, a favourite bird of many visitors to the centre.

Mr Donnison said: "This is the first such incident at the centre in over ten years.

"Staff are particularly disappointed, given the record number of people who visited the centre in 2003 to enjoy these birds.

"The white-winged ducks are so rare that they will be difficult to replace.

"There are only 300 pairs known to remain in the wild and it appears they may have taken a breeding pair.

"They are particularly important part of our programme. This is a heavy blow."

Mr Donnison said the damage to the security fence had also left the rest of the birds vulnerable to predators such as foxes.

But he said the fence had now been repaired and stressed it was business as usual for visitors.

Police have recovered some evidence which will help in finding the culprits.