Winners, losers and misguided invites

Winners, losers & misguided invites

The highs and lows of wild introductions, by Mike Stentiford

There are no prizes for guessing the latest buzzword in wildlife husbandry: it’s ‘rewilding’. That means ‘the reintroduction of species into areas deemed as agreeably appropriate’.

Tricky things, though, species introductions. It’s easy to appreciate the conscience-dominated anxieties facing any conservationist who has the final say in making what is often a controversial decision.

Although reintroducing specific species might, on the face of it, appear to be a 21st Century ‘lightbulb’ initiative, natural ‘wilding’ has been chancing its luck here in Jersey for well over a century.

While some introductions have stood the test of time, others have tried, but failed, to gain any local rights of permanent legitimacy.

Take the Rev William Lemprière, for instance. Around the mid-1850s, he made a valiant but sadly unsuccessful attempt to import rooks into the woodlands at Rozel.

This early conservationist even went that extra mile by generously providing the birds with artificial nests.

Despite such meaningful endeavours, plus a few later random rook arrivals and departures, the species ‘residency’ no longer features on the local bird list. More sustainable success was achieved with the introduction of red squirrels and hedgehogs. Both species were brought into the Island during the late 1800s.

While Jersey’s population of the former originate from the stately estate of Sir Walter Phillimore in southern England, hedgehog numbers apparently did an upwardly mobile leap following the establishment of the Weymouth to Jersey boat service.

When it comes to introduced plant species, few cause more comment, discord or environmental concern than the Hottentot fig, an exotic succulent that evidently took local gardens by storm in Victorian times.

A native of South Africa, this very attractive but dominant flowering plant escaped from local gardens and set up permanent residency on Jersey’s sun-kissed south-facing cliffs.

Such is the plant’s prolific presence in this environment that many of the existing smaller plant species have been well and truly ‘outed’.

It’s a fine example of how some introductions can cause an imbalance to the natural order.

Another slight variation on the theme of relocation involves the sparrowhawk. Around 100 years ago, these master predators reigned supreme in many of Jersey’s deciduous woodlands but, during the 1950s, the arrival of DDT chemicals presented the species with an exit card.

Thirty years later, a genuine offer was received from the UK’s Hawk and Owl Trust to relocate a few of their own captive-bred sparrowhawks into Jersey’s pastoral surroundings. Thanks to the wisdom of Jersey’s Nature Conservancy Council, the offer was refused on the grounds that sparrowhawks would hopefully return of their own free will and at a time of their own choosing.

This the species generously did, along with peregrine, marsh harrier and buzzard, each species making its very own individual travel arrangements.

Other local avian reintroductions were not, some might say, in receipt of anything like a warm public welcome.

During the 1980s, a few hundred fertile eggs of pheasant and redlegged partridge were imported and delicately put under the soft warm breasts of broody hens. Once hatched, the mature adults were intended to provide free-range game for the shooting fraternity.

Because the Jersey Wildlife Law offered valid protection to both species, the initial plan for a selected game-shoot was well and truly scuppered. As a result, individual clusters of the birds now enjoy feral freedom in the Island’s rural landscape.

Providing that carefully planned introductions have no direct impact on other long-established species - the recent reintroduction of the redbilled chough is a classic example - then wild relocations could still be on the local agenda.

After all, whichever side of the rewilding fence we happen to sit on, it’s collectively prudent to remember that, successful or not, some of our most familiar wildlife species owe their presence to past introductions.