Non Native species in the UK

Mr T

Mr T

Well-Known Member
As some of you may have heard there are new reports of 'big cats' roaming the wilds of Britain. I though it might be interesting to start up a thread listing 'exotics' that are known of or suspected to be living in the wilds of the UK. There are some animals that were introduced hundreds if not thousands of years ago such as muntjac deer and mink but I was wondering if people knew of any more unusual ones. If you have any newspaper links or articles of sightings and claims they may be useful.

Coatis - BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cumbria | Raccoon-like animal found in UK
Possibly escaped from South Lakes Wild Animal Park
 
One case that comes to mind is the existence, since the 1960's, of a breeding population of Aesculapian snakes in Colywn Bay and the area surrounding the Welsh Mountain Zoo, after some escaped from that collection.

Snakes escaped from Welsh Mountain Zoo Upper in Colwyn Bay - North Wales Weekly News

A similar story can be told of the Night Heron population which even now lives in the immediate area of Edinburgh Zoo - as of last Monday, there are still at least 2 individuals extant.

Another population of exotic animals, which I can confirm was still extant as of 2010 from the evidence of my own eyes, is the well-known Red-necked Wallaby population found around Loch Lomond in Scotland.
 
Thanks Dave, that's a great start and is exactly the sort of thing I was after. I had heard about the wallabies and Edinburgh's night herons, but the Welsh snakes are a new one to me. Very interesting thanks. Would love to hear of some more.
 
Mr T said:
Coatis - BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cumbria | Raccoon-like animal found in UK
Possibly escaped from South Lakes Wild Animal Park
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Am I correct in thinking several Coatis escaped from SLWAP and were at large locally for a time. Were they all recaptured or killed off?

Another one was the colony of Porcupines(I can't remember the species but it was not the Crested) which lived and bred in mid Devon near Okehampton for many years after a pair escaped from a small wildlife park there.
 
Pertinax said:
Am I correct in thinking several Coatis escaped from SLWAP and were at large locally for a time. Were they all recaptured or killed off?
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It is believed that this is where they came from but the park would not confirm this. It is worth mentioning however, that on one occasion I visited there was a coati wandering around outside of it's enclosure. I informed a keeper and his reaction was 'not again, thanks for letting me know'. Clearly the enclosure was not as secure as they would have liked.
 
Mr T said:
It is believed that this is where they came from but the park would not confirm this. It is worth mentioning however, that on one occasion I visited there was a coati wandering around outside of it's enclosure. I informed a keeper and his reaction was 'not again, thanks for letting me know'. Clearly the enclosure was not as secure as they would have liked.
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Allegedly a Nilgai caused a fatal road accident having escaped from a very well-known establishment close to Canterbury. Its even better known proprietor denied all responsibility for the event...
 
Was the nilgai not tagged or microchipped? Surely it would be obvious where it had come from. Don't zoos need to take stock counts and surely wherever it had come from would be an animal down with no explanation.
 
Mr T said:
Was the nilgai not tagged or microchipped? Surely it would be obvious where it had come from.
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It was a long time ago, from the era when Howletts was still a private collection, and visiting society models got lacerated by chimpanzees(or tigers). I do not know the full facts so won't comment further.
 
Pertinax said:
It was a long time ago, from the era when Howletts was still a private collection, and visiting society models got lacerated by chimpanzees(or tigers). I do not know the full facts so won't comment further.
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Thanks, I was unaware it was a while ago. Are collections today , both private and public, required to microchip their animals?
 
Just a few of some of the more unusual ones I have found:
- Breeding striped skunks in the Forest of Dean
- African clawed toads in South Wales and the Isle of Wight
- Five (!) different species of stick insect in Cornwall
- Prairie dogs in Northern Ireland (since eradicated)
- Both Himalayan and crested porcupines in the 1970s, in South Devon and Staffordshire respectively.
- Yellow-tailed scorpions since the 1960s in several docks

All these and others are on:
British Isles mammals - Non Native and Introduced Species

As a little aside into Europe, I thought these were also of note (again, all listed on the above website):
- At one point at least 20 olive baboons in Spain following a safari park going bust and leaving the animals to their own devices.
- Tree shrews escaped from Heidelburg Zoo in the zoo grounds and neighbouring university grounds.
- Two extra mongoose species: Indian grey mongoose (S. Italy) and Javan mongoose (Croatia). The Spanish Egyptian mongooses do not get a mention.
- Greater rheas in Germany.
 
Mr T said:
It is believed that this is where they came from but the park would not confirm this. It is worth mentioning however, that on one occasion I visited there was a coati wandering around outside of it's enclosure. I informed a keeper and his reaction was 'not again, thanks for letting me know'. Clearly the enclosure was not as secure as they would have liked.
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I think most of us will apply Occam's Razor to that one:).
 
MR T said:
There are some animals that were introduced hundreds if not thousands of years ago such as muntjac deer and mink but I was wondering if people knew of any more unusual ones.
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both species you use as examples were introduced in the 1920s; better examples would have been rabbits and pheasants.

The site Desert Rhino linked to in post #11 is the best one for naturalised species in the UK
 
the original edition was The Naturalised Animals Of The British Isles, published in 1977 but there is an entirely new and updated version from 2009 called The Naturalised Animals Of Britain and Ireland. I have the original but I haven't had the opportunity to see the 2009 book. Its bound to be an interesting read!
 
Chlidonias said:
the original edition was The Naturalised Animals Of The British Isles, published in 1977 but there is an entirely new and updated version from 2009 called The Naturalised Animals Of Britain and Ireland. I have the original but I haven't had the opportunity to see the 2009 book. Its bound to be an interesting read!
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Has anyone had the stomach to put together "The Naturalised Animals of New Zealand", noting how much damage each taxon has caused?
 
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