STANDFIRST Hundreds of snaps of puffins in Wales could help save the seabird species from the threat of global extinction.

The RSPB’s Puffin Project asked the public to take pictures of the striking birds eating.

Hundreds of snaps of puffins in Wales could help save the seabird species from the threat of global extinction.

The RSPB’s Puffin Project asked the public to take pictures of the striking birds eating.

The charity’s researchers want to know if their diet is responsible for a decline in UK populations.

Over 600 ‘puffarazzi’ across Britain have contributed - including hundreds of images from Pembrokeshire’s Skomer Island, and South Stack on Anglesey.

“Puffins are one of our most recognisable and much loved sea birds. People come from across the world come to witness the UK’s colonies,” said Danny Griffiths, from RSPB Cymru.

“However, in recent years numbers across the UK and Europe have plummeted.”

There are about 580,000 breeding pairs of puffins across 40 colonies in the UK.

But RSPB scientists have warned that the bird is now vulnerable to extinction, with further declines in populations of between 50% and 79% anticipated by 2065.

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