farm, food & countryside
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Bio-diverse Britain
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It is often assumed that wildlife is in decline or under some sort of
threat. While it is true some species of animal and bird have declined
since the war, there are others that are stable or have increased in the
last fifty years.
Birds
In a survey in May 2004 the Environment
The UK badger population has more than doubled in the
Three of the most common wildfowl
Most British birds of prey have
Agency found fish in 98% of
last thirty years.
on Britain's waterways the mallard
shown good increases over the last
Britain's rivers and lakes. This is the
duck, the greylag goose and the
thirty years.
best count for a hundred years. Some
Having suffered setbacks in the 1960s and 1970s the
mute swan have doubled their
rivers had up to 14 species in them.
otter is now making a comeback in Britain. After many
numbers since 1975.
The 33 species defined by the
Not surprisingly those two great fishers
years absence it can be seen again in rivers in East
RSPB as rare, taken as a whole
of our rivers and streams, the heron
Anglia and the Midlands. It is now as common as it was
RSPB figures looking at all 139 wild
have increased 100% since 1970.
and the kingfisher, have also shown
in the 1950s. It is present on most rivers.
bird species show there has been a
large increases in the last forty years.
five per cent increase overall since
The larger mammals of the British
For the first time in 300 years we have wild
1970.
countryside badger, otter, rabbit,
According to the JNCC British deer species are
boar roaming free and proliferating.
grey squirrel and fox have all shown
increasing with over a million deer in the
Similarly the red-necked wallaby
The number of different breeding
significant increases over the last
UK today. The roe deer in
can be seen running free in the
species of bird in the UK has
twenty years.
particular has shown huge
countryside. Some swear we also have
increased steadily over the last
increases and is now more
pumas and lynx at large. But don't
century. There has been a net gain
numerous than in medieval
have nightmares, there is nothing to
of around ten species over the last
times. Some are of the view
fear from the countryside
thirty years. Today there are forty
there are now too many.
and its wildlife.
more breeding species in the UK
increase
than in 1800.
Did you know Britain is home to:
1.5 million hedgehogs 30 million moles 50 million shrews 37 million rabbits
2.5 million grey squirrels 75 million field voles 38 million wood mice
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