FEARS that flooding rivers could have carried mink into new areas of Hampshire have been expressed following the deaths of two rare birds at the New Forest Owl Sanctuary.

A mink forced its way through wire mesh at a cage and mauled two tawny frog-mouth birds of prey to death at the sanctuary at Crow, near Ringwood, and was found early yesterday morning in the sanctuary shop.

It was immediately shot by Bruce Berry, who owns the sanctuary. He had to shoot mink when owls were killed after animals had been released from a nearby mink farm by animal rights activists in January 1998.

But Mr Berry feels the latest attack on his birds could result from the high floodwaters which have stretched out across the Avon Valley since recent rains caused the river to burst its banks.

"Mink spend most of their time on land by streams and ditches, but because of the floods, the streams and ditches are now hidden completely by water," he said.

He fears that in their efforts to get away from the wide expanses of water, the animals will move in on areas where they may not have been a problem in the past.

"I think people will have to be very, very cautious and take extra care to make sure that their animals are properly protected," he said. "The incident here, where this one got through fine wire mesh show that they can get through very tiny spaces."

The death of the tawny frog-mouths has come as a blow to the sanctuary's breeding programmes. Mr Berry said: "They were a pair and we were hoping they would breed."

This is the second recent incident in south west Hampshire. At the beginning of the month, a mink was shot by a keeper after killing five chicken near Hythe.

There have been similar problems in other parts of the UK. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food had a recent request to embark on a cull in Essex because of increasing numbers and damage.