Water voles reintroduced to six sites in southern England

DOZENS of water voles have been reintroduced into waterways in parts of southern England after being declared locally extinct over the last 20 years.

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Some 150 water voles were released last month at six sites along the River Wey in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire, and further reintroductions will take place over the next two years.

The species, made famous by “Ratty” in The Wind In The Willows, is the country’s fastest-declin-ing mammal species because of habitat loss and predation by the nonnative American mink.

The population plummeted by 93% in England during the course of the 20th century and has been in further rapid decline since 2000.