Ratty is back! Water voles thrive thanks to rewilding project in South Downs National Park

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There is good news for wildlife lovers thanks to the success of a project to bring back a popular animal to our National Parks.

A project to reintroduce river voles – made famous as “Ratty” in The Wind In The Willows – to the South Downs National Park has been declared a success after more than 2,500 signs of activity were spotted.

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The Meon Valley Partnership has led the initiative which has seen more than 2,800 water voles being released along the River Meon in Hampshire since 2013.

Now a scientific survey has found signs of activity at 27 sites along the river and its tributaries, with 20 of these showing signs of breeding – with the highest concentration being in West Meon, Funtley and the Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve.

The water vole is the country’s fastest declining mammal species because of habitat loss and predation by the non-native American mink.

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Dr Rowenna Baker, who conducted the survey with the support of national park volunteers, said: “It’s been fantastic to find evidence that water voles are persisting at their release sites and colonising new habitat up and down the river corridor.

“The abundance of field signs show that water voles are now thriving on the River Meon and this is incredibly important when nationally their future still remains uncertain.”

Elaina Whittaker-Slark, lead ranger for the Hampshire area of the National Park, said: “Unfortunately reintroductions are not always successful so it’s wonderful to see this latest survey that shows good old ‘Ratty’ really is flourishing.

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“It’s a good indicator of the overall health of this very rare chalk river, which has really turned a corner in the past decade or so after water voles were considered locally extinct back in 2003.”

A national park spokesman explained that water voles are important to a river habitat by acting as food for predators like otters, herons and marsh harrier as well as helping “engineer” thriving wetland ecosystems to create flower-rich habitat for insect species such as bumblebees, moths and butterflies.

Their complex underground structures are also used as refuges by a range of other small mammal species, reptiles, amphibians and insects.

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Tim Slaney, interim chief executive of the National Park Authority, said: “We all know nature is in crisis in the UK so it’s wonderful to be able to share this positive story of wildlife bouncing back with a little helping hand from us.

“As part of our ambitious ReNature initiative, we’re determined to turn the tide on biodiversity loss and water will continue to be a priority in our nature recovery goals.”

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