Wildlife survey reveals one in five British mammals facing extinction

AT LEAST one in five British mammals is at high risk of extinction in the face of threats such as disease and loss of their natural habitat, a study has found.

Red squirrels, wildcats and grey long-eared bats are among the species which face severe threats to their survival, the first major review of British mammals for more than 20 years revealed.

Populations of nine species, including hedgehogs, water voles, hazel dormice and rabbits, have declined in the last 20 years, according to the study of 58 native, “naturalised”, introduced and reintroduced species.

Hedgehogs have fallen by two thirds since an estimate in 1995, while red squirrels have suffered declines and water vole populations are thought to be just a tenth of what they were in the 1990s.

There is better news for some species, such as otters, whose range has expanded since the banning of pesticides which poisoned their river homes, and pine martens, polecats and badgers are recovering from persecution. Fiona Mathews, chairwoman of the Mammal Society, warned that Britain is on a “little bit of a precipice”.

“We have a few winners – the deer and carnivores – but if you look beyond the deer and the carnivores, it’s difficult to see many native species that look like they’re are doing well or increasing,” she said.