The Tower of London upgrades ravens

The Tower of London is increasing security after two of its ravens were killed by a fox.

The large black birds are an integral part of the tower – with superstition decreeing the United Kingdom and its monarch should fall if they ever leave – and are protected by a royal decree laid down by King Charles II in the 17th century, who said there should never be any less than six at the London landmark at any time.

Two of eight ravens – called Jubilee and Gripp – fell prey to fox in May, but were quickly replaced.

A spokesperson for the Historic Royal Palaces organisation (HRP), which looks after the birds, said: ”Ravens pair up. So they both paired up together. We can only speculate, but we can imagine that one might have been trying to protect the other one, or they were both trying to have a go because they are quite feisty.”

The ravens are allowed to roam freely in the Tower from daybreak but have clipped wings, which means they cannot fly very far, and increases their vulnerability to hunters. At nights they are kept indoors.

In light of the deaths, which are uncommon, The HRP will upgrade the birds’ enclosures for the first time in over 20 years, giving them new cages with an area for them to safely fly around at night.

Work on the new cages is expected to be completed early in 2014.

The ravens – called Hugine, Erin, Merlin, Munin, Portia and Rocky, alongside the new Jubilee and Gripp – have a much longer life expectancy than in the wild, with many of them living between 25 and 40 years, instead of the usual 12.

They are fed on a diet of meat scraps from a local market, and biscuits soaked in blood, although they are also said to enjoy salt and vinegar flavored potato chips.