3 Species that could be reintroduced to the UK | Rewilding Britain

the british isles were once a vastly different place landscapes were altered by dams built by beavers and clearings made by bison wolves hunted packs of reindeer and it all worked in perfect balance the thailand populations are known for being fragile and delicately balanced changes in climate over hunting or habitat loss can easily tip a species into local extinction and while some birds can fly over and start a new breeding colony most animals can't just wander back across our borders since we're not going to find bears swimming across the channel anytime soon if we want them back we need to bring them back ourselves but is there even a place for these species anymore we've seen a few species brought back in recent years ranging from eurasian beavers to large blue butterflies so today we'll be looking at three more species that could be reintroduced starting with one that we should be seeing soon the european bison this is the closest living relative of the long extinct step bison which used to roam the uk thousands of years ago but it almost went the same way itself in the early 20th century the european bison was declared extinct in the wild after being over hunted in europe but a population of 50 was saved by a zoo in poland that population was then bred with this species gradually being reintroduced to conservation areas across europe and the plan is for us to be next they will be released into bloon woods in kent for spring 2022 where they will roam a 1 200 acre area but since they haven't been present for so long why bother bringing them back well bison act as a keystone species meaning they shape the land around them and have an impact on many other species living alongside them their habit of debarking trees causes them to fall which creates open areas in forests and creates miniature ecosystems for rare wildflowers and butterflies this also results in the creation of standing dead wood which is essential for fungi and many more species that are struggling in the uk much like beavers they sound like a very destructive species to bring back but their destructive tendencies could act as a lifeline for many of our struggling species needless to say i think we'll all be keeping an eye on this latest project and keeping our fingers crossed hoping for the best on that note i'd like to tell you about a rewired in project that we're undertaking here at mossy earth but it's a bit different from the examples on this list because it's a tree eurasian aspen has been largely wiped out from scotland predominantly thanks to historical management of scottish woodlands and the fact that deer have a particular taste for aspen saplings in the spring of 2021 we committed to planting and protecting ten thousand aspen trees over the next five years and a little over a year on we can proudly say we've planted 2 700 so far this is a little off topic though so i won't go too in depth but if you'd like to find out more about this project and others as well as how you can support us you can do so on our website be sure to check that out if you might be interested but now let's get back on topic and talk about a potential candidate for reintroduction that most of you have probably heard of the eurasian links the potential reintroduction of links has been formally discussed since 2008 but in recent years we've seen discussions pick up speed a lot they've been extinct in the uk for hundreds of years likely due to hunting and habitat loss and again they suffered a similar decline in europe but were saved from extinction by conservation efforts one argument in favor of their return is that they could help control their numbers of deer particularly rhodia whose numbers have increased drastically since large carnivores disappeared from britain but with the benefits associated with reintroducing an apex predator come problems while it's evidence that scotland in particular could provide the large territories that eurasian links require the risk they pose to sheep raises issues with farmers but that's less of a risk than it might sound where there are abundant prey species links don't kill livestock often they're characteristically shy preferred to hunt in woodlands and show a strong preference for eating roe deer they could also help reduce fox numbers through predation but that doesn't mean they wouldn't cause problems if they weren't reintroduced to britain any reintroduction attempts would need to carefully consider how to mitigate the risks so while every introduction is plausible we'll have many more debates to hear before we see them return that leads us on to our third and final potential species the european elk or moose as it's known in america went extinct in the uk around two to three thousand years ago when it was here it had a role in opening clearings and promoting natural regeneration through grazing and trampling currently though the uk has a big problem with the abundance of deer and lack of predators so introducing yet another deer species could exacerbate this problem with that being said two elk were introduced to a fenced enclosure in aladel wilderness reserve in 2007. this was not a formal reintroduction but it served as a trial to understand how they would adapt to and impact the habitat unfortunately it soon became apparent that they had to be fed extra by reserve staff to maintain their body weight as there was not enough woody vegetation within their enclosure this was made worse when legal complications meant they had to be kept in an even smaller enclosure and in 2013 the decision was made to move them to more suitable zoos and parks no reintroductions have been attempted since and it's highly unlikely we'll see any anytime soon but this example does provide us with some lessons around through wilding reintroducing species sounds a lot simpler than it is history is littered with examples of species humans have introduced with high hopes only to mess up an ecosystem and even if a species historically occupied an area after centuries of absence reintroducing them could easily cause massive problems but these animals did play key roles in maintaining their respective ecosystems and could provide plenty of benefits to the rest of britain's wildlife there are a lot of complexities and we can never be truly sure of what will happen so it's important to try all reintroductions on a small scale to start of course doing things on the small scale is far more difficult with a seven foot tall one-ton european bison than a pool frog or large blue butterfly it's easiest to just avoid debates around reintroducing a species by making sure it never disappears in the first place so if you enjoyed this i reckon you'd also enjoy our video on protecting atlantic salmon in scotland thanks for watching and until next time cheers

Channel: Mossy Earth

Views: 191,806

Keywords: rewilding britain, rewilding britain lynx, rewilding britain animals, rewilding britain wolves, rewilding uk, britain rewilding, rewilding scotland, rewilding britain 2022, uk rewilding, rewild britain, rewilding britain beavers, rewilding britain projects, rewilding uk 2022, rewilding uk wolves, rewilding uk bison, rewilding lynx, rewilding europe, rewilding, rewilding england, rewilding uk animals, rewilding britain bears, reintroducing wolves to uk, european bison

Id: AQCxK8MaRwo

Length: 6min 23sec (383 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 15 2022