Previously
unseen wildlife are colonising British cities but local authorities are
concerned by the increase
The Guardian,
The Observer, John Vidal, Saturday 27 October 2012
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| Coming to a street near you: wasp spider, fallow deer and great spotted woodpecker. Photograph: Alamy |
First came
the urban fox, then flocks of colourful tropical parakeets. But now deer,
woodpeckers, hedgehogs, jackdaws, birds of prey and exotic spiders, fish and
insects are colonising British cities, say wildlife experts.
Previously
unseen muntjac, roe and fallow deer now boldly enter inner-city areas such as
Finsbury Park in north London and have been seen in cemeteries, gardens and
golf courses on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Sheffield, Bristol, Guildford and
Newcastle, says the London Wildlife Trust's deputy director, Mathew Frith.
He gave a
warning that people could soon expect to see wild boar in suburban streets and
gardens: "It will not be too long before they impact on our urban areas.
They have no natural predators, it is complicated to hunt them, and their
numbers are increasing. We can expect them soon."
Birds of
prey, once common in cities, have this year returned in numbers. Red kites,
extinct in England and Scotland by the 1800s and down to just a few pairs 20
years ago, are now not just seen flying over London and other cities, but have
been found feeding in gardens in places such as Reading, Frith says.
In a
remarkable turnaround from the polluted wildlife deserts of the 1970s,
inner-city parks and private gardens are now attracting creatures once
practically extinct in urban areas and providing habitats for wildlife seldom
seen before in Britain.
The
invaders, which are mostly welcomed by ecologists but worry local authorities
as their numbers increase, are becoming bolder every year as they fill
ecological niches.
Jackdaws
have been found raiding pigeons' nests on the British Museum and the National
Gallery, and peregrine falcons, which were almost exterminated by the use of
pesticides after the second world war, have taken to nesting in the Houses of
Parliament, Tate Modern and the O2 arena, as well as on tower blocks and
housing estates.
"They
used to be persecuted, but now they are returning," says Frith.
"Twelve years ago there were no breeding pairs at all. But now we have
eight to 10 pairs in London."
Smaller
animals and birds once rare in cities are also thriving, says ecologist Tony
Canning, who works at the Camley Gardens nature reserve near King's Cross in
north London. He attributes some of the increase in urban wildlife to a declining
use of pesticides by gardeners. "Sales shot up in the 1980s gardening
boom, but people don't use so much now," he says.
Increasingly
urbanised landscapes are thought to be of mixed value for birds, with species
such as pigeons and chaffinches able to survive in these environments, while
others, such as the swift, starling and song thrush, are in decline.
One of the
most successful urban birds may be the tropical ring-necked parakeet, which
colonised Esher in Surrey years ago and is becoming widespread in urban areas
in the Midlands. "We now have great spotted woodpeckers right in the
centre of cities. I saw one flying over London Bridge last week," says
Frith.
Exotic
animals have often been brought to London and to British port cities on boats,
but they seldom breed. But no one can explain how a self-sustaining colony of
non-venomous metre-long Aesculapian snakes has come to live near the canal in
Regent's Park. They normally eat birds and eggs, but appear to be feeding on
rodents.
Hundreds of
terrapins, which can live for up to 60 years, are known to inhabit British
cities following the craze over the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show in the
1990s. This year a mink was spotted in an artificial lake in Thamesmead, one of
London's most deprived communities. "What we are seeing especially is new
insects. The red-eyed damselfly was virtually unknown a few years ago. Now it's
in central London. Wasp spiders are spreading everywhere," says Canning.
Milder
winters are thought to have extended the range of insects and spiders to London
and southern England cities. Jersey moths and exotic, brightly coloured wasp
spiders, almost unheard of a few years ago, have spread from the continent, and
red-eyed damselflies, first spotted in Britain in 1999, are now common on
London's waterways.
In August a
rarely seen long-tailed blue butterfly was found trying to establish a breeding
territory in East India Dock. It is possible that it came off a boat, but just
as likely that warmer winters have made it possible for it to survive.
Ecologists
cannot say if the present boom in wildlife is because species are being driven
out of the countryside or because cities are becoming more attractive. "We
have lost some urban habitats, like old industrial sites, and a lot of front
gardens have been concreted over," says Canning. "But a huge amount
of conservation work has been done in nature reserves in the past 20
years."
Equally,
thousands of ponds in the countryside have been filled, but frogs and newts now
find it easier to live in cities because pesticides are used less.
The work of
local authorities may also be encouraging wildlife. Tens of thousands of street
and park trees were planted in the 1950s and 1960s in British cities and many
of these are nearing maturity, offering new habitats for many types of birds
such as magpies, which only nest above 25ft.
But not all
new urban wildlife in urban areas is welcome. Last week scientists from Queen
Mary College, University of London, said that almost 100 freshwater species not
native to the UK have invaded the river Thames catchment area, costing hundreds
of millions of pounds to eradicate. They include Chinese mitten crabs, zebra
mussels, Asiatic clams and other species which can rapidly multiply and take
over the habitats of native wildlife and infest waterways.
The
recolonisation of British cities parallels what is happening elsewhere in
Europe and also the US. Wolves have been found within 25 miles of Rome, and
wild boars are now so common in Berlin that the city authorities have issued
hunting licences.
American
scientists warned last week that wolves, mountain lions and wild dogs could
soon be a common sight in densely populated cities. "Raccoons, skunks,
foxes – they've already been able to penetrate the urban landscape pretty well.
The coyote is the most recent and largest. The jury's out with what's going to
happen with the bigger ones," said Dr Stan Gehrt of Ohio State University,
who has been tracking the wild dogs.
"It
used to be rural areas where we would have this challenge of coexistence versus
conflict with carnivores. In the future, and I would say currently, it's cities
where we're going to have this intersection between people and carnivores.
Overall, I think it is amazing what is happening. If we give a bit of room here
and there, nature does its own thing. We are finding many animals are
surprisingly tolerant of what humans do."
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Cross-species friendships are springing up all over. Of them, Matthew said in 2010:
“The innocence of animals, who act from instinct, never from malice, automatically qualifies all except a few species to ascend with Earth. Along the way those who now are wild will become tame, predators will become vegetarians, and all will live peaceably with each other and humankind. Already there is evidence of cross-species friendship, even mothers of one species nurturing infants of another, and instances of bonding between wild animals and humans.” (Matthew message - Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 13, 2010)
