From Peter Alma
Malvern, Worcester
Edwards reports that the World Wide Fund for Nature described a relocation
programme for great crested newts at the Orton brick pits as “an unsatisfactory
compromise which is putting at risk one of the most threatened species in the
UK”. Great crested newts are not uncommon in this part of the country, and this
appears to be true of many western areas. I can think of a long list of animals
(and plants) that are at much greater risk than great crested newts.
I suggest the terms “rare” and “most threatened” be used more cautiously, so
that the position of our really vulnerable wildlife is not distorted by the
hyperbole applied to reasonably secure species.
