Endangered / Extinct

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Photo: G. Bradley UK Safari Tip:
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Beaver

Latin name: Castor fiber

Size: Approximately 90cms long. The tail is another 35cms long

Distribution: Extinct in the UK, but being re-introduced at enclosed sites.

Food: Bark and shoots of trees. Also eats aquatic vegetation.

Habitat: Lakes, rivers and wooded areas.

Special features: The beaver was heavily hunted for it's pelt, and combined with an increasing loss of habit, became extinct in the U.K. by around the 16th century.

The European beaver can still be found in Russia, Scandinavia and the Rhone and Elbe valleys. There are plans for trial re-introductions of the species back into Scotland.

The beaver is nocturnal, and spends a lot of time in the water. The beavers habit of felling trees to reach the tender shoots at the top makes them unpopular with foresters.

In 2002 a group of nine beavers were re-introduced in England at Ham Fen, Kent. In October 2005 another six European beavers were released on an enclosed site in South Cerney, Gloucestershire. More recently another population was set up at Martin Mere in Lancashire, one in Devon, and there were two releases on private land in Scotland.


Did You Know?
Beavers were known by the native American people as the 'little people' because of the human way in which they stand upright while feeding and grooming.

Brown Bear

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Latin name: Ursus arctos

Size: Head and body length up to 200cms. Weight can be up to 250kgs.

Distribution: Extinct in the UK.

Food: Roots, berries, seeds, fish and honey raided from bees nests.

Habitat: Woodlands, especially in mountainous areas.

Special features: Brown bears are heavily built animals with thick brown fur, long claws, small eyes and rounded ears.

Brown bears became extinct in the UK in the 10th century after years of habitat destruction and persecution by hunters. Incredibly in some of the few places in western Europe where they still survive, they are still hunted.

Lnyx

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Latin name: Felis lynx

Size: Head and body up to 130cms. Tail length approx 25cms.

Distribution: Extinct in the UK.

Food: Carnivore. Mainly deer, but will also take smaller prey such as rabbits and hares.

Habitat: Forests, especially mountainous areas.

Special features: The lynx is a nocturnal, medium sized cat. The coat is reddish-brown with dark brown spots. The tail is short with a black tip, and the ears have long, black tufts of fur at the tips.


Lynx do not build dens. Instead the mothers place their cubs under a tree or close to rocks. A litter contains between one and four cubs. The young are independent at around 10 months and can live between 10 and 15 years.

The lynx became extinct in the UK by around the 10th century (possibly earlier). This was probably the result of hunting and habitat loss.


Did You Know?
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the lynx as the world’s most endangered cat.

UK Safari Tip:
There have been numerous sightings of lynx in the British countryside in recent years, but these are most likely escaped / released individuals from private collections.

Large Copper

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Latin name: Lycaena dispar

Size: Wingspan up to 38mms

Distribution: Extinct in the UK.

Food: The larvae feed on water dock

Habitat: Fens*

Special features: The true British large copper butterfly became extinct in the UK in 1851 as a result of drainage of their fenland home. It was last recorded at Bottisham in Cambridgeshire.

There have been several unsuccessful reintroduction projects of a Dutch subspecies called Lycaena batavus. A further attempt is being considered in the Norfolk Broads.

* Fens are permanently waterlogged wetland habitats. They range from wet heath, with sphagnum moss and patchy heather, to woodland of willow and alder. The wetland is maintained by either ground water, surface water run-off or rain.

Greater Mouse-Eared Bat

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Latin name: Myotis myotis

Size: Wingspan up to 45cms. Head and body length up to 9cms

Distribution: Extinct in the UK.

Food: Moths, flies, midges and beetles

Habitat: Roosts in caves and tunnels, or trees and buildings in summer.

Special features: The Greater Mouse-Eared Bat is a large bat with pale brown coloured fur on the upper half of its body, and greyish-white fur underneath.

It has very distinctive large ears and a very narrow pointed tragus.


The greater mouse-eared bat was only discovered in the UK in 1958, and by 1990 it was officially declared extinct here. Since then, two Greater Mouse-Eared Bats have shown up. The first was a female, found in Bognor, in 2001, which died a few days after discovery. The other was a male, found in December 2002, in a tunnel near Chichester. As a result of these finds it's hoped there may still be a small group breeding somewhere in Sussex

Wolves

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Latin name: Canis lupus

Size: Approximately 140cms. Tail 40cms.

Distribution: Extinct in the UK.

Food: Carnivorous, mainly feeding on deer

Habitat: Remote forests and mountain areas.

Special features: The wolf is a dog-like mammal with a thick bushy tail. It has upright pointed ears, long legs and a deep chest.

Wolves were hunted to extinction in the UK towards the end of the 17th century. Wild populations of wolves can still be found in Europe, with some sizable populations in eastern Europe, particularly Romania, Poland and the Balkan region.