A man who killed a heron to rescue a duckling from its stomach has been cautioned by police.

The man recovered the newly born creature still alive, however the heron died as a result of his actions.

North Wales Police tweeted on Monday that the man “had witnessed [the heron] eating a newly born duckling so decided to kill the heron in order to rescue the duckling from its stomach.”

The force’s Rural Crime Team added: “Strangely he actually did rescue the duckling alive… but obviously he was then left with a dead heron.

“You couldn’t make this up!”

Police later added that the elderly man, from the Pwllheli area, was not given a harsher punishment because he was vulnerable and "confessed voluntarily to the action with no previous convictions.”

“These decisions are never taken lightly and a number of factors are addressed,” the force tweeted.