WILD BRITAIN.

Foxes, badgers and squirrels? Yes, but there are wild animals in Britain too! Sometimes they escape from seas. Sometimes they are exotic pets and they run away from their areas. Now you can find areas in central England and wild bears and wallalabies near London. Britain has a varied wildlife. The only poisonous snake, the adder,  is rare and protected. The other two snake species are the smooth snake, Coronella austriaca, and the grass snake, Natrix natrix. The smallest mammal is the pygmy shrew.

The Act’s schedule designates the species covered, such as many primates, carnivores, larger or venomous reptiles, dangerous spiders and scorpions. “Specially protected wild animal” are:  badger, bat, wild cat, dolphin, dormouse, hedgehog, pine marten, otter, polecat, shrew or red squirrel. The law defines certain other species as vermin and landowners are permitted (or, in the case of wild rabbits, are required) to cull them. The brown rat is believed to have originated from Asia. It spread all over Europe in the 18^th century and is now the most common animal in the UK. In terms of population, experts estimate it to be almost 10 million.