Saving Our Species
Conservation Projects at the British Wildlife Centre
Red Squirrels
Conservation efforts to save the red squirrel in Britain are largely focused on protecting the few small areas in England where they still survive from incursions by grey squirrels. The British Wildlife Centre is one of the UK’s largest red squirrel breeders and in recent years, we have released red squirrels on to private island locations that are free from grey squirrels.
The largest and best known releases took place In 2012 and 2013, when we donated a colony of red squirrels to Tresco, on the Isles of Scilly. They were released into the beautiful Abbey Gardens estate, where natural foods were supplemented with feeders to ensure the best of starts. The island environment provides a safe haven, free from the grey squirrel, an aggressive competitor for food as well a potential carrier of the deadly squirrel pox virus, to which red squirrels are highly susceptible.
Less than a year after the release, the red squirrels became self-sustaining, not only making their own dreys and foraging for wild food but also successfully breeding. Red squirrels spotting is now one of the Island’s highlights for holidaymakers and day-trippers. We continue to investigate other safe and suitable habitats for future release projects.
Hazel (or Common) Dormice
The hazel dormouse is Britain’s own native dormouse species. With its large dark eyes, golden coat, long whiskers and furry tail it is one of our most appealing small mammals. They live among the trees in deciduous woodland, in overgrown clearings, scrub and large hedgerow.
Sadly, changes in woodland management, a loss of hedgerow and habitat fragmentation have contributed to its decline. Hazel dormouse have declined by 70% since 2000, disappearing from half its range in England. Requiring specific conditions in order to thrive, they are sensitive to changes in their environment. Now rare and vulnerable to extinction, the hazel dormouse is a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
We are proud members of the Common Dormouse Captive Breeding Group who record numbers and co-ordinate a breeding and re-introduction programme, monitored by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. Our breeding pens produce hazel dormice each year for release into approved sites in the wild.
Scottish Wildcats
Britain’s last remaining wildcat species, Scottish wildcats are the most vulnerable to extinction of any UK mammal. Historically persecuted, their main threat now is inter-breeding and hybridisation with feral domestic cats, and habitat loss. Absent from England and Wales for over 150 years, it is believed there could be less than 100 living wild in the Highlands today.
Captive wildcats play a vital role in conservation and we are proud to be members of the Scottish Wildcat Studbook, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. We produce kittens to facilitate current releases in the Highlands and also for possible future release projects in Northern England and Wales.
Water Voles
The recent decline of the water vole in the wild has been dramatic. Recent research indicates that habitat loss through building and agricultural improvement of riverbank areas, together with water course pollution, started the dramatic decline. Escaped and released American mink from fur farms introduced a new predator on already vulnerable populations. Mink are now well-established in the wild and can decimate water vole populations locally.
We successfully breed water voles every year and since 2010 we have been releasing them onto our wetland nature reserve. The water voles are not only surviving but thriving, with youngsters spotted from the boardwalk. Numbers are boosted locally which increases the biodiversity on the reserve and helps create waterway ecosystems. We occasionally provide surplus water voles for release programmes in other areas of England.
Polecats
Once common throughout Britain polecats were eradicated from most areas during Victorian and Edwardian times to protect poultry and game birds. During the 1950s and 60s their numbers began to recover in Wales and parts of Midlands and they are now spreading into south and south east regions of the country.
The British Wildlife Centre is a member of the polecat studbook. With our successful breeding program we are able to supply polecats for a managed release program to safe sites in southern England, contributing to the comeback of these masked mustelids across Britain.
Choughs
Red-billed choughs (pronounced chuffs) have a close association with Cornwall and appear on its coat of arms. They were once abundant in the county but from the late 19th century, land use and farming practices changed, and vital habitat was lost. Choughs thrive on coastal cliffs, where rocks meet martime grasslands, and on well-grazed coastal pastures, ideal for insect foraging. As livestock disappeared, these areas became overgrown with impenetrable masses of gorse and bracken, and the choughs moved on.
We are partners of Operation Chough run by Paradise Park in Cornwall. Through captive breeding, they aim to re-establish choughs to the Cornish coast, ensuring their return is permanent and sustainable. We have a breeding pair that can be observed from our Wetland Boardwalk.
Hedghogs
Habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticide use, road casualties and predation by badgers mean that populations have plummeted from an estimated 36 million in the 1950s, to just 1 million today. Numbers have halved in the last 20 years alone and continue to dwindle.
Our hedgehogs breed every year and, in spring, they are released into safe and suitable locations across Surrey and Sussex to give them the very best chances of survival in the wild. We let the hoglets from later litters hibernate over winter in the safety of our hedgehog hibernacula located in the wildlife garden by our owl aviaries.
Hedgehogs are a gardener’s friends, providing natural pest control by gobbling up garden pests. To discover how to make your garden a haven for hedgehogs, visit Hedgehog Street which provides plenty of tips and suggestions.
Harvest Mice
Harvest mice populations have steadily decreased over the past few decades. Intensive farming and pesticides have led to degraded and fragmented harvest mice habitats, with a reduction of hedgerow and field margins. Though locally common in south and east England, nationally they are classed as rare and in decline, with a British population estimated at 1,425,000.
We successfully breed harvest mice throughout the year and regularly release them onto our own nature reserve to boost local populations. We provide any surplus harvest mice to other breeding programmes across the country.
