Water Voles and Waterway Wildlife Survey
Recently some five hundred water voles were released into the River Dore (on the Herefordshire/Wales border). This release (under the supervision of Dr J Reynolds of the Game Conservancy Trust) is part of a larger project affecting the River Monnow. Restoration work has been carried out on the four tributaries of the river, which has already resulted in the reversal of the decline in brown trout and grayling.
The water vole was once common on the River Dore but has completely disappeared from this and other rivers in recent times. Their disappearance is due to the loss of river habitats and predation by mink. One crucial aspect of the re-introduction of the water voles is therefore the elimination of mink from the area.
The water vole is one of the many water animals included in the 2006 National Waterway Wildlife Survey. If you are interested in contributing to this survey, then visit: http://www.waterscape.com/features/wildlife/wildlife_survey_2006.
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British Waterways is launching is 4th annual survey, if you might be able to contribute to their growing biodiversity database then have a look at http://www.waterscape.com/news/nid927.
Chris
25 April, 2007