Exotic Species Living in the UK

The February 2015 edition of British Wildlife reports that feral monk parakeets have nearly been eradicated from England . The programme started in 2011 and the population , centred on London's Isle of Dogs , is reported to be down to the last 50 .

I had not realised that a breeding population had been established in England .
 
Bele said:
I had not realised that a breeding population had been established in England .
Click to expand...

At one time there was a free-flying colony at Paignton zoo- they escaped from their aviary when it was damaged. They carried on breeding both in and outside the Aviary but that colony did not(afaik) spread elsewhere.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I am pretty sure I've discussed the matter on here in the past, though I cannot find where; however in my search I did find this interesting thread on the matter of invasive coypu in which I also alluded to the issue:

http://www.zoochat.com/65/nutria-elimination-case-study-fighting-invasive-278797/

In short, there have been occasional reports and rumours of possible coypu being seen in County Durham and Northumberland since the early 2000's - particularly in the River Derwent, the River Wear and (occasionally) the River Tyne downstream from Blaydon. The matter only became more widely known when a man in Consett killed what appears to have been either a very large rat or a coypu, and a poor quality photograph of the deceased animal made it into the national media:

Investigation after "large rat" is killed (From The Northern Echo)

Unfortunately the poor image quality, the distortion caused by camera perspective and the fact the corpse was destroyed prior to the story becoming widely known means the exact identity of the animal was never proven; although it does look a bit more like a brown rat than a coypu, I believe the local wildlife organisations are treating it as a possible coypu nonetheless due to the pre-existing rumours and reports.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there were coypu in the norfolk broads not so long ago
 
Exotic...

I saw eight Eyptian Geese this afternoon. Common enough in East Anglia, but much less frequent here in Dorset. We have a small breeding population of Mandarins though.
 
FBBird said:
I saw eight Eyptian Geese this afternoon. Common enough in East Anglia, but much less frequent here in Dorset. We have a small breeding population of Mandarins though.
Click to expand...

There was a flock of eight/nine Egyptian Geese in the Avon valley/Christchurch harbour recently. I wonder if it is the same birds?

They have spread somewhat from East Anglia, though that's still their major stronghold because the dry climate allows successful breeding when they nest early in the year. But there are also populations in Southern England nowadays too, in places like the Thames valley and in Regents Park(full-winged) where they apparently breed successfully too.
 
Pertinax said:
There was a flock of eight/nine Egyptian Geese in the Avon valley/Christchurch harbour recently. I wonder if it is the same birds?

They have spread somewhat from East Anglia, though that's still their major stronghold because the dry climate allows successful breeding when they nest early in the year. But there are also populations in Southern England nowadays too, in places like the Thames valley and in Regents Park(full-winged) where they apparently breed successfully too.
Click to expand...

We don't know if it's the same flock.
 
lowland anoa said:
We don't know if it's the same flock.
Click to expand...

No, we don't know if its the same flock. ...That's why I said I wonder if it is the same birds. Maybe. maybe not. If they were seen further West in Dorset on the same day as they were still present in the Avon Valley, it is unlikely, but they haven't been reported on the Christchurch Bird report today, though that only covers the Harbour, not the Avon valley.
 
One place that I regularly see Egyptian geese in is Richmond Park, though I often see them around Surrey when I am in the UK.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top