CUTE, comical and barely able to fend for themselves, 20 grey partridge chicks represent a last-ditch defence against the extinction of their species.

Bird and nature lovers across the North-East hope the eight-week-old grey partridges will help preserve the species in the region.

The chicks have been reared by animal conservationist Kevin Bulmer, who has received a £700 grant to introduce them into the wild.

Mr Bulmer, a keeper at the bird and animal centre at Preston Park, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockon, will rear the birds for another three to five weeks before letting them go.

The Stockton Borough Council employee said the grey partridge population had declined by nearly 90 per cent on Teesside since the early 1970s.

Modern intensive farming methods, including the destruction of hedgerows, the use of pesticides and combine harvesters, has reduced the population.

In industrial areas such as Teesside, the decline has been particularly marked. In some places they can no longer be found at all.

Mr Bulmer said: "One thing we try to do is not interfere with them too much. It's better if the parents rear them so they are not too tame when released into the wild.

"We released some at Cowpen Bewley, near Billingham, last year and have evidence that there has been breeding, which is very good news. We plan to release these at Cowpen Bewley and maybe Seal Sands, near Hartlepool, and have high hopes they will breed."

The conservationist said he and his team of volunteers were also trying to improve the mammal population, including harvest mice.

Mr Bulmer has been interested in wildlife since he was a child, helping out on farms near Guisborough, east Cleveland.

He is developing a project to reintroduce black grouse to the North York Moors, to the south of Guisborough, where they have not been found for more than 150 years.

The grant for the grey partridge scheme was donated by gas supplier Transco

Rare Species

* The grey partridge is one of Britain's most endangered species. The British Trust for Ornithology says numbers fell 78 per cent between 1972 and 1996.

* Its name may suggest a rather dull bird, but it is quite striking, with a blue-grey breast and brownish back. It has chestnut flanks, a red face and a dark horseshoe mark on the breast.

*It is most often seen on farmland or rough grassland, feeding on grass and seeds, cereal and grain, but chicks are fed on insects.

* Other sites in the region favoured by the grey partridge include Castle Eden Dene, in County Durham, and Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve.