London’s rivers about to go wild for water voles

WHILE there’s not a lot of good news around right now, there is one piece which is sure to bring a smile to your face.

In a bid to reintroduce one of the UK’s most endangered mammals back into the wild, London is about to get a whole load of cute, fluffy animals.

They will specifically be reintroduced to the Hogsmill River in Kingston, South London, with the hope that they will reproduce and spread to other areas of London and the UK as a whole.

So what cute animal are we talking about here?

It’s the water vole.

Water voles look like a cross between a big guinea pig and a rat, as they have the long tails.

But they are super cute and fluffy, and when swimming they resemble otters.

However, they are under serious threat in the UK because of both habitat loss and because of the population growth of their predator, the non-native American mink.

In a bid to help prevent these endangered animals from disappearing completely, Citizen Zoo, a local group in Kingston, has raised thousands with the aim of reintroducing the animals to the wild.

The group has raised more than £18,000 in their crowdfunding campaign and this will mean they can reintroduce 200 water voles back into the wild.

The campaign page said: “This project is working to return one of the UK’s fastest declining wild mammals back to the Hogsmill River, the water vole!

“Water voles are one of the UK’s most endearing and charismatic mammals, immortalised in British culture in famous tales such as The Wind and Willows.

“Water voles hold a special place in British hearts, and the Hogsmill has a special affinity with water voles too. Locals speak of a time only 30 years ago when these furry critters were teaming in our rivers.”

With the money they’ll even be able to pay for the recruitment of a Vole Ranger, whose job it will be to scale the reintroduction and focus on taking the project beyond Kingston to other parts of London.

So keep an eye when you’re walking along the Thames in the future and you might just be lucky enough to see these cute animals in the wild.

A rewilding project will restore the water vole to the Hogsmill river in Kingston-upon-Thames