New water vole populations found in streams

Surveys have revealed that endangered water voles are found more widely in upland areas than previously thought.

Yorkshire Water said the aquatic rodents had been spotted at new locations across the Peak District National Park and South Pennines.

The species is considered to be absent from many parts of Yorkshire and the wider UK.

Sean Davey, lead ecologist at Yorkshire Water, said " We knew there were still water voles at some of our South Yorkshire reservoirs, but the recent surveys have found them in many more streams in the moorland catchments of the River Don and River Holme."

Water voles are native rodents which live in wetlands and by rivers. They used to be widespread across the UK but numbers fell by around 90% as a result of loss of habitat and the spread of invasive American mink.

A large number of mink, a non-native species, were released from fur farms in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, which devastated vole populations.

Ecologists from Yorkshire Water, the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust and River Connections, together with university researchers from Sheffield, Manchester and Stirling, have been monitoring vole activity.

The trust's species officer, Luke Nelson, said: "As well as recording new vole sites in the uplands, we've been improving habitats by creating new pools and slowing the flow of water in upland streams.

"Surveys have show that the water voles are quickly colonising these new habitats, hopefully leading to a more resilient and better-connected population."

The Waterlife Recovery Trust, a charity set up to humanely remove mink from the British countryside, has also been working with Yorkshire Water.

The charity aims to eradicate mink within five years.

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