'Killer seagull' in Hyde Park drowning pigeons and eating them

Hyde Park visitors have told of their shock after seeing a killer seagull dragging pigeons into the lake, before drowning and eating them.

One seagull in London's famous park is grabbing the pigeons by the neck and dragging them to their grisly end.

Amateur photographer Johanna van de Woestijne, 57, was walking in the park when she witnessed the aggressive behaviour.

According to the Mirror, she said: "It was one of the most violent things I have ever seen - after it happened I felt I had witnessed a murder.

"I've seen him hunting pigeons on two separate days, both times he picked them off, dragged them into the lake and drowned them.

"He is easy to spot as he has a distinctive look. He is fairly squat and looks muscular, like a bodybuilder. It must be the high meat diet he's living on."

Bird experts say the behaviour is extremely unusual, and that seagulls normally live on small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans.

Birdwatcher, Ralph Hancock, 66, said he has seen the killer gull in the same spot for the past five years.

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "It is one of the strangest things I have ever seen a bird do.

"This particular gull has been doing this for at least five years, and the stripped corpses of pigeons are often found on the shore of the lake."

He added that he has not seen any of the other gulls do the same thing, but that the gull's mate shares the pigeon with him after it has been killed.