Ninja castaways bring terrapin terror to birds..... (1 Viewer)

[El Annie]

In conserv@tion toady - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm

A colony of red-eared terrapins has killed so many wild birds at a nature reserve in Derbyshire that conservationists have been forced to employ a trapper to catch the creatures and deport them to Tuscany. The unwanted pets, relics of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon craze that gripped children in the 1980s, have ravaged the aquatic bird population at the Foremark reservoir and nature reserve. Rangers at the reserve were baffled by a mysterious plunge of nearly 90 per cent in the breeding bird population in the last year. Then they saw terrapins basking on shore before swiftly submerging.
More information - Telegraph

 

[Reader]

This is what happens when you upset the balance of nature by introducing species that don't belong here. I must admit though that this came as a surprise to me as I hadn't heard of this before. I wonder where wlse could be suffering in the same awy without us realising it. Rivers, canals and pools could easily contain these Terrapins. I dread to think of the consequences if these get out of control.