RHES help monitor Britain’s rarest toad – the Natterjack Toad
On the evening of May 7th after dusk RHES (Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society) assisted the field studies centre in North Wales with a very important data collection survey to help us understand Britain’s rarest toad, the Natterjack Toad.
After a two hour classroom session learning about the history, ecology and behavior of the Natterjacks RHES headed out with trained volunteers to collect some important data which will help authorities understand this species better. The huge team of people managed to cover three sites where the toads are known to be present. All Natterjacks were collected weighed, measured and sexed before being released back into their breeding pools under a license as this species is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
On the night a successful 110 Natterjack toads were collected and processed a small number of Common Toads were relocated to another site to reduce competition for the Natterjack Toad.
During the evening RHES learnt some valuable fieldwork techniques and had a great time whilst collecting valuable data for one of our most threatened species.
