New Water Voles

Today we welcomed over 70 new water voles to the Centre which had been bred at Wildwood in Kent.

Some of these have been used to create new breeding pairs to help sustain our population here for both display and conservation.

The rest are being released on to our nature reserve to help boost the population we already have out there.

We have released a few voles over the last 2 years onto the reserve, but these should really help get the wild population established.

Special release pens have been placed around the waterways to house the voles for a few weeks, while being fed and cared for by us. Then we will cut holes in the pens to allow them to explore the wider world while still being able to get back to safety, and for food we put out while they are getting used to natural feeds.

Eventually in their own time, they will develop their own dens and be fully rehabilitated into the wild in this soft release method. I am sure this will enable you to see them more often around our wetlands boardwalk, as some are still seen now with only a few out there.