List of extinct animals of the British Isles explained
See also: List of endangered species of the British Isles and Extinct animals from the Isle of Man. This is a list of extinct animals of the British Isles, including extirpated species. Only a small number of the listed species are globally extinct (most famously the Irish elk, great auk and woolly mammoth). Most of the remainder survive to some extent outside the islands. The list includes introduced species only in cases where they were able to form self-sustaining colonies for a time. Only Pleistocene species, and specifically those extinct since the Ipswichian/Eemian interglacial (c. 130,000 - c. 115,000 before present (BP)), Devensian glaciation (c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 BP) or into the Holocene (c. 11,700 BP - present), are included (that is, the assemblage that can be approximately considered the 'modern' fauna which displays insular differences from the mainland European fauna). The date beside each species is the last date when a specimen was observed in the wild or, where this is not known, the approximate date of extinction.
Overview
For most of its history, the British Isles were part of the main continent of Eurasia, linked by the region now known as Doggerland. Throughout the Pleistocene (Ice age) the climate alternated between cold glacial periods, including times when the climate was too cold to support much fauna, and temperate interglacials when a much larger fauna was present. Insularity first occurred around 125,000 BP, during the Ipswichian interglacial,[1] when a warming climate raised sea levels and flooded Doggerland. This temperate climate supported an assemblage of species characterised by straight-tusked elephant (Palaeodoxodon antiquus). Around 115,000 BP the climate began to cool again as the Devensian glaciation began. The temperate species began to go extinct locally (many survived in southern refugia elsewhere in Europe). With the cooling climate, the sea level fell and by 60,000 BP a land bridge reformed so new or returning species could repopulate Britain. The colder climate supported a biome favoured by woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius).[2] By around 20,000 BP the climate was so cold, with much of Britain under ice and the rest a polar desert, so that little life could survive, and the glacial fauna also went extinct. The climate began to warm again around 11,700 BP, entering the present climatic period known as the Holocene. Animals repopulated Britain and Ireland. Many of the former species had gone extinct during the interval, but the majority of the surviving European temperate fauna, and some new immigrants, including modern humans (Homo sapiens), were able to reach Britain until the rising sea level once again isolated the islands. Great Britain was cut off from mainland Europe in around 8,200 BP by the Storegga Slide tsunami flooding Doggerland.[3]
Extinctions in Britain over the period have thus had three main causes:
- Climate change as the ecosystem swung from temperate woodland and pasture, through open mammoth steppe to uninhabitable polar desert, and back.
- Habitat loss brought about by human activities, such as the clearing of woodland or draining of marshland.
- Hunting by humans.
It is important to remember that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; the fossil record is always incomplete;[4] and many of the early dates are very approximate, since caves in Britain were often excavated before modern archaeological stratifications and dating techniques.[5]
Key
† - A species that is globally extinct
* - A species that is known to have been introduced by humans and was never present by natural immigration.
Some animals have gone extinct several times and then recolonized. The date given is of the most recent extinction. Species that have been introduced or reintroduced by humans are noted.
Mammals
data-sort-type="text" | Common name | data-sort-type="text" | Species | data-sort-type="text" | Order and family | data-sort-type="number" | Extinction/extirpation date | Notes and references |
---|
data-sort-value="Straight-tusked elephant" | | Palaeoloxodon antiquus | Proboscidea | data-sort-value="-113000" | c. 115,000 BP | Present during the Eemian interglacial,[6] [7] survived elsewhere in Europe until around 40-30,000 years ago. |
data-sort-value="Narrow-nosed rhinoceros" | †Narrow-nosed rhinoceros | Stephanorhinus hemitoechus | | data-sort-value="-12000" | c. 115,000 BP | Present during the Eemian interglacial, survived elsewhere in Europe until around 40-30,000 years ago. |
Hippopotamus | Hippopotamus amphibius | Artiodactyla | c. 115,000 BP | Present during the Eemian/Ipswitchian interglacial[8] |
data-sort-value="Woolly mammoth" | | Mammuthus primigenius | Proboscidea | data-sort-value="-12000" | c. 14,500-14,000 BP | [9] |
†Woolly rhinoceros | Coelodonta antiquitatis | Perissodactyla | c. 35,000 BP[10] | Survived elsewhere until at least 14,000 years ago |
data-sort-value="Neanderthal" | | Homo neanderthalensis | Primates | data-sort-value="-48000" | c. 50,000 BP | Have left some genetic traces in modern humans.[11] |
†Irish elk | Megaloceros giganteus | Artiodactyla | c. 12,000 BP[12] | |
data-sort-value="Cave hyena" | | Crocuta crocuta spelaea | | data-sort-value="-30000" | c. 32,000 BP | [13] |
†Cave lion | Panthera spelaea | Carnivora | c. 40,000 BP | Survived elsewhere until 14-13,000 years ago.[14] |
†Scimitar-toothed cat | Homotherium latidens | Carnivora | c. 28,000 BC | Known from a single specimen from the southern North Sea dating to c. 28,000 years ago.[15] |
†European Ice Age leopard | Panthera pardus spelaea | Carnivora | c. 32,000 BP | |
†Steppe bison | Bison priscus | Artiodactyla | c. 28,000 BP | |
| Castor fiber | Rodentia | data-sort-value="1526" | 1526 | Reintroduced to Britain;[16] [17] never known to have lived in Ireland[18] |
| Dicrostonyx torquatus | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP | |
| Lagurus lagurus | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP | |
data-sort-value="Coypu" | | Myocastor coypus | | data-sort-value="1978" | 1978 | Modern, introduced non-native; eradicated in Britain in 1978, introduced to Ireland in 2010. |
data-sort-value="Musk rat" | | Ondatra zibethicus | | data-sort-value="1937" | 1937 | Introduced, non-native; eradicated in 1937.[19] |
data-sort-value="Narrow-headed vole" | | Microtus gregalis | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP | |
data-sort-value="Root vole" | | Microtus oeconomus | | data-sort-value="-1500" | c. 1,500 BC | |
data-sort-value="Steppe pika" | | Ochotona pusilla | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP | |
data-sort-value="Arctic fox" | | Vulpes lagopus | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP | |
data-sort-value="Eurasian brown bear" | | Ursus arctos | | data-sort-value="500" | c. 500 [20] | c. 1000 – 500 BC in Ireland;[21] see Bears in Ireland |
data-sort-value="Polar bear" | | Ursus maritimus | | data-sort-value="-16000" | c. 18,000 BP | [22] |
data-sort-value="Eurasian lynx" | | Lynx lynx | | data-sort-value="400" | c. 700 [23] or c. 1760[24] | Subfossil evidence suggets an early medieval extinction, but a written record indicates persistence in Scotland into the late 18th century. |
data-sort-value="Eurasian wolf" | | Canis lupus | | data-sort-value="1786/1888" | 1786/1888 | 1166/1888 in Wales, 1390/1888 in England, 1680/1888 in Scotland/Britain, 1786/1888 in Ireland;[25] see Wolves in Great Britain and Wolves in Ireland |
data-sort-value="Wolverine" | Wolverine | Gulo gulo | Carnivora | data-sort-value="-9000" | c. 11,000 BP[26] | |
data-sort-value="Walrus" | | Odobenus rosmarus | | data-sort-value="-1000" | c. 1000 BC | Extirpated as a breeder; occasional vagrant[27] |
data-sort-value="Greater mouse-eared bat" | | Myotis myotis | | data-sort-value="1990" | 1990 | A solitary male is known from a single hibernation site in Sussex, but the species is effectively extirpated.[28] |
data-sort-value="Tarpan" | | Equus ferus ferus | | data-sort-value="-8000" | c. 10,000 BP[29] | Re-established proxy in the form of free-roaming domestic horses[30] |
data-sort-value="Gray whale" | | Eschrichtius robustus | | data-sort-value="-598" | c. 598 BC | |
data-sort-value="Eurasian elk" | | Alces alces | | data-sort-value="1300" | c. 5600 BP[31] | |
data-sort-value="Siberian roe deer" | | Capreolus pygargus | | data-sort-value="1945" | 1945 | Non-native, introduced in England from escapees in early 20th century; exterminated by 1945[32] [33] |
data-sort-value="Reindeer" | | Rangifer tarandus | | data-sort-value="1100" | c. 11,000 BP[34] | Extirpated in Ireland c. 7500 BC.[35] [36] [37] |
data-sort-value="Saiga antelope" | | Saiga tatarica | | data-sort-value="-10000" | c. 12,000 BP | |
data-sort-value="Musk ox" | | Ovibos moschatus | | data-sort-value="" | prior to 12000 BP[38] | |
data-sort-value="Eurasian aurochs" | †Aurochs | Bos primigenius primigenius | | data-sort-value="-1000" | c. 1000 BC | Select breeds of free-roaming domestic cattle are used as an ecological proxy as part of some conservation grazing initiatives.[39] |
data-sort-value="Wild boar" | | Sus scrofa | | data-sort-value="1400" | c. 1400 | Reintroduced to Britain,[40] extirpated from Ireland.[41] | |
Birds
- Common crane – late medieval period (re-established)
- Dalmatian pelican – c. 5000 BP[42]
- Gadfly petrel (unknown Pterodroma species, presumed Fea's petrel) – Iron Age[43]
- Eurasian spoonbill – 17th century (as a breeding bird) (re-established)[44]
- †Great auk – 1844
- Great bustard – 19th century (reintroduced)
- Kentish plover – 20th century (last breeding record 1979)[45]
- Little egret – late medieval period (re-established)
- Pied avocet – 19th century (re-established)
- Red-backed shrike – 1989 (as a regular breeding bird)
- Western capercaillie – 1780s (reintroduced)
- Hazel grouse – Last Glacial Period and only found in South West England
- White stork – 1416 (reintroduced)[46]
- Wryneck (as a regular breeding bird)
- White-tailed eagle – 1916 (reintroduction projects underway)
- Lanner falcon - 1236–1300 (change of climate)
- Western marsh harrier – late 19th century (re-established)
- Northern goshawk – late 19th century (re-established)
- Red kite - 1870s (England), 1886 (Scotland); reintroduced
- Osprey – 1916 (re-established)
- Eurasian eagle owl - c. 10000 BP (re-established)[47]
Fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Insects
Beetles
- Agonum sahlbergi (ground beetle) – 1914
- Platycerus caraboides (blue stag beetle) – 19th century
- Graphoderus bilineatus (water beetle) – 1906
- Harpalus honestus (ground beetle) – 1905
- Copris lunaris (horned dung beetle) – 1974
- Ochthebius aeneus (water beetle) – 1913
- Platydema violaceum (tenebrionid) – 1957
- Rhantus aberratus (water beetle) – 1904
- Scybalicus oblongiusculus (ground beetle) – 1926
- Teretrius fabricii (histerid) – 1907
Bees, wasps and ants
- Andrena polita (mining bee) – 1934
- Bombus pomorum (apple bumblebee) – 1864
- Bombus cullumanus (Cullum's bumblebee) – 1941
- Eucera tuberculata (mining bee) – 1941
- Halictus maculatus (mining bee) – 1930
- Mellinus crabroneus (digger wasp) – c. 1950
- Odynerus reniformis (mason wasp) – 1915
- Odynerus simillimus (mason wasp) – 1905
- Bombus subterraneus (short-haired bumblebee) – 1989
Flies
Butterflies and moths
General reference: Waring et al., 2009.
Dragonflies and damselflies
Caddisflies
- Hydropsyche bulgaromanorum (caddis fly) – 1926
- Hydropsyche exocellata (caddis fly) – 1901
Cicada
Arachnids
Crustaceans
Molluscs
Land snails
Reintroduction and re-establishment
The white-tailed eagle has been successfully re-established on the western coast of Scotland.[59] Having clung on in parts of Wales,[60] red kites have been successfully re-established in parts of England and Scotland.[61] Ongoing projects involve both these species: the corn crake into parts of England and Scotland, and the great bustard on Salisbury Plain.
European beavers have been reintroduced to parts of Scotland, and there are plans to bring them back to other parts of Britain. A five-year trial reintroduction at Knapdale in Argyll started in 2009 and concluded in 2014.[62] A few hundred beavers live wild in the Tay river basin, as a result of escapes from a wildlife park.[63] A similar reintroduction trial is being undertaken on the river otter in Devon, England.[64] Also, around the country, beavers have been introduced into fenced reserves for many reasons including flood prevention.[65] In 2016, beavers were recognised as a British native species, and will be protected under law.[66]
In 2008, Eurasian elk were released into a fenced reserve on the Alladale Estate in the Highlands of Scotland. Reindeer were re-established in 1952; approximately 150–170 reindeer live around the Cairngorms region in Scotland.
Set up by the Wildwood Trust, Konik horses have been established across many reserves as a proxy for the extinct tarpan.[67]
In 1998, MAFF, now known as DEFRA released a report concerning the presence of two populations of wild boar living freely in the UK.[68] These boar are thought to have escaped from wildlife parks, zoos and from farms where they are farmed for their meat, and gone on to establish breeding populations.[69] [70]
Around 20 white storks pass through the UK each year.[71] A colony at the Knepp Wildland in West Sussex, aided by zoologist Roisin Campbell-Palmer, hopes to reinforce these off-path migrants by introducing adults into a fenced reserve, where the juveniles born will be able to establish other colonies further afield.[72]
The northern clade of the pool frog was reintroduced from Swedish stock in 2005, to a single site in Norfolk, England, following detailed research to prove that it had been native before its extinction around 1993.
Smaller species, mainly reptiles, such as the green lizard and Aesculapian snake, have formed colonies probably due to a result of release from captivity.[73] There have also been calls for the return of the European tree frog to the wild.[74]
Established in 2020, Celtic Reptile & Amphibian, aims to reintroduce the lost species of reptile and amphibian that once inhabited Britain, back to rewilding projects.[75] These include the moor frog, European tree frog, agile frog and European pond turtle.[76] They have already had significant success breeding the moor frog in captivity.[77] [78] The organisation also wants to see European pond turtles re-established within wetland restoration projects.[79]
The large blue butterfly has been successfully re-established from Swedish stock at several sites, but very few of these are open-access. There are also several successful cases of the establishment of new populations of heath fritillary.
There have been calls for the reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx, brown bear and grey wolf to the UK, because no large predators are living in viable populations in Great Britain. It is theorized that a large predators presence could create a trophic cascade,[80] thus improving the ecosystem.[81]
There are plans to reintroduce European bison into England in spring 2022. The initial reintroduction would consist of one male and three females being released into a 150-hectare area with no accessible footpaths.[82]
See also
Further reading
Notes and References
- Web site: The making of an island. Natural History Museum.
- Encyclopedia: Insularity and Quaternary vertebrate faunas in Britain and Ireland. 1995. Island Britain: a Quaternary perspective. Geological Society Special Publication No. 96. Stuart. A. J.. Preece. R. C.. 111–125.
- Web site: Bernhard Weninger et al., The catastrophic final flooding of Doggerland by the Storegga Slide tsunami, Documenta Praehistorica XXXV, 2008 . 2019-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101060155/http://www.personal.soton.ac.uk/ejr/Rohling-papers/2008-Weninger%20et%20al%20Documenta%20Praehistorica.pdf . 2014-11-01 . dead .
- Book: Flannery, Tim. Europe: The First 100 Million Years. Penguin UK. 2018. 978-0141989037.
- Book: Kurten, Bjorn. Plesitocene Mammals of Europe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1968. London.
- Ipswichian fauna of Victoria Cave and the marine palaeoclimatic record. Nature. Gascoyne. M.. Currant. A. P.. Lord. T. C.. 1981. 294. 5842. 652–654. 10.1038/294652a0. 1981Natur.294..652G. 4336223.
- Pleistocene occurrence of hippopotamus in Britain.. Quartärpaläontologie. 6. 209–218. 1986. Stuart. A. J.. 10.1515/9783112652565-023 . 9783112652565 .
- Franks . J.W. . 1960 . Interglacial deposits at Trafalgar Square, London. . The New Phytologist . 59 . 2 . 145–150 . 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1960.tb06212.x . 2429192 . free.
- Late-glacial mammoth skeletons (Mammuthus primigenius) from Condover (Shropshire, UK): anatomy, pathology, taphonomy and chronological significance. Geological Journal. Lister. Adrian M.. 44. 4. 447–479. 10.1002/gj.1162. 2009. 84944458 . free. 2009GeolJ..44..447L .
- Stuart . Anthony J. . Lister . Adrian M. . 2012 . Extinction chronology of the woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis in the context of late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in northern Eurasia . Quaternary Science Reviews . 51 . 1–17 . 2012QSRv...51....1S . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.06.007 . 0277-3791.
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- Lister . Adrian M. . Stuart . Anthony J. . January 2019 . The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence . Quaternary International . en . 500 . 185–203 . 2019QuInt.500..185L . 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.025 . free.
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- Web site: Beaver reintroduction in the UK . The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . 1 February 2023.
- Web site: The Case for Beavers in Ireland . 18 December 2020 . The Irish Wildlife Trust . 1 February 2023.
- Web site: Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus . 27 December 2018 . GB Non Native Species Secretariat.
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- News: Mystery of the polar bear whose remains were found in Scotland. March 8, 2008. The Independent. 13 May 2020.
- Web site: About the lynx . lynxuk.org.
- Raye . Lee . 2021 . An 18th century reference to a Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Scotland" . Mammal Communications . 7. 10.59922/XHXV2212 .
- Hickey . Kieran R. . A geographical perspective on the decline and extermination of the Irish wolf canis lupus—an initial assessment . Irish Geography . 33 . 2 . 2000 . 0075-0778 . 10.1080/00750770009478590 . 185–198 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120907043329/http://www.ucd.ie:80/gsi/pdf/33-2/lupus.pdf#expand . 2012-09-07 .
- Coard . R. . Chamberlain . A. T. . April 1999 . The nature and timing of faunal change in the British Isles across the Pleistocene/Holocene transition . The Holocene . en . 9 . 3 . 372–376 . 10.1191/095968399672435429 . 1999Holoc...9..372C . 0959-6836.
- News: Walrus basks in Orkney attention. 3 March 2013. 26 September 2018. BBC News.
- Web site: Greater mouse-eared bat. 2021-04-21. People's Trust for Endangered Species. en-GB.
- Sommer . Robert S. . Benecke . Norbert . Lõugas . Lembi . Nelle . Oliver . Schmölcke . Ulrich . November 2011 . Holocene survival of the wild horse in Europe: a matter of open landscape? . Journal of Quaternary Science . en . 26 . 8 . 805–812 . 10.1002/jqs.1509 . 2011JQS....26..805S . 0267-8179.
- Web site: Wildwood Trust: Wildwood's horses roaming free in Wales. wildwoodtrust.org. 2018-12-18.
- Schmölcke . U. . Zachos . F.E. . November 2005 . Holocene distribution and extinction of the moose (Alces alces, Cervidae) in Central Europe . Mammalian Biology . en . 70 . 6 . 329–344 . 10.1016/j.mambio.2005.08.001.
- William Ling Taylor . 1939 . The distribution of wild deer in England and Wales . . 8 . 1 . 6–9 . 1249. 10.2307/1249 . 1939JAnEc...8....6T .
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- Sommer . Robert S. . Kalbe . Johannes . Ekström . Jonas . Benecke . Norbert . Liljegren . Ronnie . February 2014 . Svenning . Jens-Christian . Range dynamics of the reindeer in Europe during the last 25,000 years . Journal of Biogeography . en . 41 . 2 . 298–306 . 10.1111/jbi.12193 . 2014JBiog..41..298S . 0305-0270.
- Web site: Are there any reindeer in Ireland?. independent. 11 December 2013 .
- Book: Blackwell, Amy Hackney. The Myths, Legends, and Lore of Ireland. December 18, 2010. Simon and Schuster. 9781440509247. Google Books.
- Web site: Ancient Ireland - Prehistory, Archaeology, Paleogeography, Geology. sites.rootsweb.com.
- Markova . A.K. . Puzachenko . A.Yu. . van Kolfschoten . T. . Kosintsev . P.A. . Kuznetsova . T.V. . Tikhonov . A.N. . Bachura . O.P. . Ponomarev . D.V. . van der Plicht . J. . Kuitems . M. . August 2015 . Changes in the Eurasian distribution of the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) and the extinct bison (Bison priscus) during the last 50 ka BP . Quaternary International . en . 378 . 99–110 . 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.020. 2015QuInt.378...99M .
- Web site: Conservation grazing. 2021-04-21. National Trust. en.
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- Keuling, O. & Leus, K. 2019. Sus scrofa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T41775A44141833. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T41775A44141833.en. Downloaded on 26 August 2021.
- Web site: Dalmatian pelican seen 'for first time' in UK at Land's End. May 11, 2016. BBC News. 16 July 2020.
- Book: The History of British Birds. Derek Yalden. Umberto Albarella. 2008. OUP. 978-0199217519.
- News: Spoonbills return to breed in the UK after 300 years. 27 August 2000. The Independent. 20 February 2020.
- News: Birdwatch: Rare appearance from Kentish plover . 26 May 2017 . Yorkshire Post . 2016-09-17. Bill Teale.
- Web site: Reintroductions. Knepp Wildland. 2018-12-18.
- Web site: Eagle owls – are they making a comeback in Britain? - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. www.gwct.org.uk. 20 February 2020.
- Charles Snell . 2006 . Status of the common tree frog in Britain . British Wildlife . 17 . 3 . 153–160.
- Identifying Ranid urostyle, ilial and anomalous bones from a 15th century London well
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- Web site: Agile frog population rises following conservation efforts. May 24, 2016. BBC News. 1 January 2021.
- Naish, Darren. Britain’s lost tree frogs: sigh, not another ‘neglected native’. 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- Web site: Blue Moor Frog Once Again Seen in the UK After 700 Years in Time for Mating Season. April 7, 2021. The Science Times. 22 May 2021.
- News: Species feared extinct as Lucky the pool frog dies. 1999-01-14. The Independent. 2018-12-18.
- Web site: Breaking New Ground – Northern clade pool frog reintroduction project. The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. 4 August 2016 . 2018-12-18.
- Kristensen. Hans. Rasmussen. Arne. Allentoft. Morten. Allentoft. Morten E.. Rasmussen. Arne Redsted. Kristensen. Hans Viborg. March 2018. Centuries-Old DNA from an Extinct Population of Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus) Offers New Phylogeographic Insight. Diversity. 10. 1. 14. 10.3390/d10010014. free.
- Web site: Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology: Hunting Green lizards in Dorset: new aliens or old natives?. 2018-12-18.
- Poecilobothrus majesticus. e.T123671476A123674314. Macadam, C.. 2022. 26 April 2023. 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T123671476A123674314.en.
- Web site: Officially extinct butterfly 'making a comeback' in UK . Patrick Barkham . 8 July 2022 . 15 July 2022 . The Guardian.
- Web site: 15 species that should be brought back to rewild Britain. George Monbiot. The Guardian. 15 July 2015. 20 December 2015.
- Web site: Red Kite Conservation. The RSPB. 20 February 2020.
- Web site: The RSPB: Red kite. The RSPB. 20 December 2015.
- Web site: Commissioned Report No. 685 The Scottish Beaver Trial: Ecological monitoring of the European beaver Castor fiber and other riparian mammals 2009-2014, final report. 18 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220140515/http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/685.pdf. 20 December 2016. dead.
- Web site: Tay Beavers Origin. Scottish Wild Beavers. 20 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222110021/http://scottishwildbeavers.org/about-tay-beavers/. 22 December 2015. dead.
- Web site: River Otter Beaver Trial - Devon Wildlife Trust. www.devonwildlifetrust.org. 26 September 2018.
- Web site: Cornwall Beaver Project Cornwall Wildlife Trust. www.cornwallwildlife.org.uk. 2018-12-18.
- Web site: Beavers given native species status after reintroduction to Scotland. Severin. Carrell. 24 November 2016. The Guardian. 26 September 2018.
- News: Wild horses help restore moorland. 2018-06-21. BBC News. 2018-12-18.
- Web site: Feral wild boar in England Status, impact and management A report on behalf of Defra European Wildlife Division. National Archives. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 26 October 2017. bot: unknown. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070101201659/http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wild-boar/wildboar-status.pdf. 1 January 2007.
- Web site: Feral wild boar in England Status, impact and management A report on behalf of Defra European Wildlife Division. 26 October 2017. bot: unknown. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070101201659/http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wild-boar/wildboar-status.pdf. 1 January 2007.
- Web site: Wild Boar. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation. BASC. 26 October 2017.
- News: White storks to breed in Britain for the first time in 600 years. Crisp. Wil. 2018-07-07. The Telegraph. 2018-12-18. 0307-1235.
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