Success stories

Five species bucking the national trend at Knepp.

PURPLE EMPEROR

No purple emperors had been recorded at Knepp before 2009. Numbers have slowly increased, with 388 sightings in 2017, which is a UK record. Trends for the rest of Britain are unclear, but Knepp is said to have the largest population in the country. ry.

BROWN HAIRSTREAK

Numbers of this butterfly exploded in 2017, such that there were ere 222 observations where there had been just one in the previous decade. ecade. The estimated population n trend in the rest of the UK is a decline of 43 per cent since the 1970s.

TURTLE DOVES

In 2017, 16 singing males s were recorded in Knepp’s southern thern block alone, compared with just three on the whole of the e estate in 1999. In the UK, the population pulation has crashed by a catastrophic hic 96 per cent since the 1960s 0s and it’s regarded as the bird d most likely to go extinct in Britain. ritain.

NIGHTINGALES

The number of nightingale territories has grown from nine in 1999 to at least 42 in 2013, an increase of 367 per cent. Studies suggest they love Knepp’s overgrown hedgerows. In contrast, in 2010 the BTO reported a UK decline of 90 per cent since 1970.

BECHSTEIN’S BAT

Knepp has 13 out of Britain’s 17 bat species, including one of the rarest, Bechstein’s bat, which is found in mature woodlands in southern England. In 2005, there were only six known breeding colonies, and its overall UK population is estimated at 1,500 individuals.