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UK Wildlife Blog

UK Alien animals – an introduction to Britain’s non native wildlife

Wednesday, 14. May 2008, 21:17:16

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I thought to start off this series I would make a list of the non native species that do or have occurred in the UK. This is in no way exhaustive and I will probably add to it at a later date. But for now here is the list, including some surprising species…

Mammals
Fallow deer
Muntjac deer
Chinese water deer
Sika Deer
Coypu (now extinct)
Muskrat (now extinct)
Brown rat
Black rat
Hamster
Gerbil
Lesser White-toothed Shrew
Rabbit
Hare
House mouse
Orkney Vole (Common vole subspecies)
Edible dormouse
North American Mink
Grey squirrel
Porcupine (crested and Himalayan)
Red necked wallaby
Black Tailed Prairie Dog
Feral cat
Racoons?
Big cats?
Coati?
Mouse tailed lemur?


Birds
Egyptian goose
Canada goose
Mandarin duck
Carolina Wood duck
Red crested pochard
Ruddy duck
Muscovy Duck
Little Owl
Pheasant species
French partridge
Bobwhite quail
Budgerigar
Ring necked parakeet
Monk Parakeet
European eagle owl
Ruddy shelduck



Reptiles (Lever, 2003)
Green lizard
Common Wall lizard
Slow worm (introduced to Ireland where it is not native)
Tesselated snake
Aesculapian snake
red eared terrapin or slider
European pond terrapin

Amphibian
Marsh frog
Pool frog
Edible frog
European Tree frog
American Bullfrog
Afican Clawed toad
Midwife toad
Yellow-bellied toad
Italian crested newt
Alpine newt
Marbled newt


Fish
Pumpkinseed fish
Cichlid
Guppy
Wels catfish
Zander
Bitterling
Common Carp
Goldfish
Orfe
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Top mouth gudgeon


Invertebrates
Harlequinn ladybird
Lily beetle
Rosemary beetle
oak processionary moth
horse chestnut leaf miner (moth)
Stick insects
Termites (wiped out, but may return)
False black widow
wasp spider
Mitten crabs
American + Turkish crayfish
Japenese skeleton shrimp
Bloody red shrimp
New Zealand/Australian flatworm
Slipper limpet
New Zealand mud snail
Zebra Mussel
Leathery sea squirt
Colonial sea squirt
Freshwater jellyfish




Hello and welcome to the UK WILDLIFE BLOGPumpkinseed fish ( Lepomis gibbosus )

Comments

Lois 15. May 2008, 02:09

Such a long list! I'm surprised about the lizards. Are they able to live in that climate, or are they escaped pets?

Neil 15. May 2008, 08:05

We have 3 native lizards anyway, 2 of which give birth to live young (slowworm and common lizard) and a 3rd which is restricted to the south.

The 2 introduced species are found in small colonies are probably a result of deliberate releases. I think the wall lizard is breeding fine but Im not sure the temperature is high enough for the green lizard to breed successfully.

Adele 15. May 2008, 18:23

I think sheep ought to be added to that list being that they far outnumber most of our native wildlife put together :whistle: Yes, we have a huge number of exotics around, some of which are much more culturally accepted than others.

Neil 15. May 2008, 19:47

I decided to leave out sheep, cows etc as they arn't really wild or free to roam, unless there are neglectful farmers with broken fences about. Mind you I might do an article on pet cats...

Adele 15. May 2008, 20:00

They use more of the landscape than many free-roaming exotics though! :wink:

Neil 16. May 2008, 08:17

Cats or sheep? lol. Mind you there are A LOT of cats. Ive got hold of a paper about predation by vats but the cat owners aren't going to like its findings :worried:

ALLY G. 16. May 2008, 15:02

Wow, wonderful photos. My fave is the lizard, because the colours are so nice. :up:

Adele 16. May 2008, 17:25

Yes, the cat population is, what, 9.2 million?? :faint: I do love cats, but I'm a very strong advocate of indoor cats, and no cat of mine will ever be willfully permitted to roam loose. If my dog attacked a protected species, in theory I could be jailed for it. I think there should be change in the law to make cat owners responsible for the damage done by an out-of-control cat. I mean, what's the difference, other than culturally it's more the done thing to let cats roam about at will?

This is the US take on the issue.

/end rant

Anonymous 26. September 2008, 13:50

matt writes:

no european eagle owl theres a few pairs about now

Neil 27. September 2008, 08:21

Cheers matt, its a bit of galring omission - added it now

Anonymous 20. March 2009, 23:15

david currie.arisaig writes:

a seen a giraffe honest to god it was so strange and not long after that i seen a penguin weird or what a was so scared it was in scotland in the hills.

Anonymous 13. June 2009, 18:22

Dave Chester writes:

Black Panthers should deffinently be added from the Forest Of Dean and sightings here are continuos! There are thought to be 6 breeding pairs here alone and the police and athoritys have now accepted the issue. I have had a sighting myself, as i drove past an area of forest dear where running alongside the car only around 10 meters away while a large black cat was giving chase i could not belive my eyes as it made a kill it appaered not to be bothered by my presence and i later reported it and 4 other sightings had occured on the same day.

Anonymous 27. November 2009, 14:23

Luke Forshaw writes:

Me and my younger brother netted 10 15 fresh water jellyfish in manchester debdale park, millions of them on a hot summers day just before a huge thunder storm. We tried to keep them in a pond but they vanished within seconds of putting them in!

Neil 28. November 2009, 17:29

When was this Luke?

Anonymous 8. December 2009, 09:16

Helen writes:

I live in an area surrounded by birch woods in Surrey. I had heard neighbours describe 'very small, short legged deer like animals which resemble guinea pigs'. This morning I saw a pair. Chestnut brown, with faces remarkably like guinea pigs. Any idea what they are??

Anonymous 6. January 2010, 18:56

T writes:

Hi there. You left out the loch lomond island wallabies although I dont think they will be there for much longer as many were killed in the summer by thugs.

Neil 6. January 2010, 20:37

T I think the wallabys are the red necked species Ive mentioned - I'll look into it

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piglet.jpgrobin.jpggrey heron getting wet.jpgspoonbill and little egrets.jpgcoypu.jpgRaven - feather gleening in sun.jpgPolecat.jpgAmerican Bullfrog 2.jpgcurled up fox.jpgPolecat close up.jpg

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