Water voles return to Brandon Marsh

[dutchman]

A creature made famous in the classic children's story Wind in the Willows has been given a helping hand in Warwickshire.



The county's water vole population is thought to have been doubled in one day after 200 of the elusive animals were released into the wild.

The project aims to give the mammals a safe haven in a former gravel quarry.

Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve offers 228 acres of open water, wetland and grassland for the new population to re-establish itself in.

Water voles were recorded in the reserve in the 1940s and 50s but then a combination of pollution, loss of habitat and predation by American mink led to the creature's catastrophic decline.

The animals are now thought to be the UK's fastest declining mammal but following the creation of the reserve in 1968 nature has gradually returned to the quarry which is now a sanctuary for birds, plants, fungi and insects.



For Stephen Trotter, chief executive of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the release shows how far the reserve has developed.

He said: "It's absolutely brilliant for all of our staff.

"It's a culmination of many years of hard work getting the reserve into tip top condition.

"The habitat is perfect for the water voles now."



The water voles were bred in a captive breeding programme based in Devon.

They were born in May or June and are about half-grown.

It is hoped they will spend the winter acclimatising and digging holes to live in before they start to breed in the spring.

Eventually animals may leave the reserve and spread to other areas around the county.