Water voles return to UK riverbanks
Water voles were once a common sight in rivers throughout the UK.
Water voles have a varied diet, which includes more than 200 plant species, meaning their feeding and burrowing activities also create habitats and opportunities for many other animals. Although only a small mammal, as a species, they can have a large impact on their ecosystem. When they create their burrows along riverbanks. they dry the soil and promote microbial activity that helps regulate the soil’s nitrogen levels. Water voles help build the diversity of waterway habitats through their grazing. By eating up to a third of their body weight a day of various plants, water voles can reduce the overgrowth and domination of any single species.
Nationally, water voles are Britain’s fastest declining mammal. Over the last century they’ve gone from an estimated population of eight million to around 132,000. In that time, they have disappeared from 94% of known habitat sites.
The main reasons for the demise of the water vole around the UK are loss of habitation, pollution, and the non native American mink that eat the water voles.
There has been attempts to re-establish water voles back into the wild. This has been a long process.
The first thing needed was the control of the non native mink population. The mink was first introduced to the UK in association with breeding farms for fur in the 1920’s. Mink were released into the wild by animal activists and fur farmers who hoped to produce better quality free-range fur. The last mink farm in the UK, closed in 2003.
Control of the mink population was made by Legislation Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 which makes it illegal to distribute or allow the release of mink into the wild. Along with otter breeding programs (who seem to be hostile towards mink) and mink trapping schemes.
Today there are still mink in the wild in the UK and numbers are unknown.
Landowners and environmental organisations needed to work together to find, improve and create suitable sites that would give the voles the best chance to thrive.
Captive bred water voles have been bred with the aim to release them into the wild in small groups . These captive bred water voles have been released in various phases in areas that have been selected and created to give them the greatest chance to successfully thrive and increase their population.
There will be more water voles released once suitable areas have been selected and improved if needed, and once there are enough captive bred water voles ready to be released.
