From red squirrels to wildcats – UK species join the roll call of animals facing extinction – Scotsman

Wildcats, with fewer than 20 in the wild in Scotland, and greater mouse-eared bats, with just one known individual, are at the highest risk of going extinct and are classed as critically endangered. ­Beavers, which have been reintroduced in recent years after being hunted to 
extinction by the 1600s, are endangered in Britain, as are red squirrels, water voles and grey long-eared bats.

Hedgehogs and hazel dormice are among those classed as vulnerable to extinction.

A further five species, including mountain hares and harvest mice, are considered to be “near threatened” as they could become at risk in the near future.

The European wolf, which vanished from Britain in the 17th century, is classed as extinct in the assessment, which looks back as far as the year 1500, but lynx and bear are not included as they became extinct here before that time.

For the first time the Red List has been formally accepted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on a regional basis.

This means the list meets the internationally agreed criteria for assessing threats to wildlife. It has been produced by the Mammal Society for government conservation agencies Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot), Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Mammal Society chairwoman and professor at the University of Sussex, Fiona Mathews, who led the report, said it showed a need for a change of approach, with funding and action prioritised on generating results for mammals.

In areas ranging from the planning system to funding for habitat creation, there is a need for more sustained monitoring and intervention over the long term to make sure schemes deliver, she said.

People such as land owners and developers who protect wildlife should be rewarded, she urged, adding that it 
was not enough just to create small protected areas for mammals.

“It’s about right across the whole of the landscape, whether it’s urban areas, peri-urban areas or rural areas, we are making space so other animals can get the resources they need, so they have food and have shelter, because that’s the only realistic way forward,” Ms Mathews 
said.

She said there was a need to take action on species that were near threatened, such as harvest mice, which were vanishing because of the loss of long grassland on farms, the edges of fields and 
roadside verges. “Once an animal becomes endangered or cri­tically endangered, it’s really 
a scramble for time to put measures in place to rescue them, so we need to be taking a hard look at the species on the next level down so that it doesn’t become a crisis,” she warned.

She also highlighted particular concern for water voles, which she said had slipped off the radar despite continuing declines in numbers, while the hope for wildcats now lies in captive breeding and possible reintroductions.

Beavers are doing well in the “isolated places” where they have been reintroduced in the wild, but they are few and far between and could face persecution that could remove the species altogether again.

A survey by Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels published in March said the animal’s population across Scotland remained stable last year, but the good work that had been done would need to continue