Fauna of Great Britain: Difference between revisions

The island of '''Great Britain''', along with the rest of the archipelago known as the [[British Isles]], has a largely [[temperate]] climate. It contains a relatively small fraction of the world's wildlife. The biota was severely diminished in the last [[Ice Age]], and shortly (in geological terms) thereafter was separated from the [[Continental Europe|continent]] by the [[English Channel]]'s formation. Since then, humans have hunted thecertain most dangerous formsmegafauna (including the [[Wolves in Britain|grey wolf]],{{#tag:ref|The last wolf was allegedly killed in 1743.<ref>Clarke et al. 1980, p. 116.</ref>|group="Notes"}} the [[Bears in Britain|brown bear]], and[[Eurasian thelynx|lynx]] and [[wild boar]]) to extinction, though domesticated forms (such as the dog and the pig) remain. The wild boar has subsequently been reintroduced as a meat animal.<ref>Clarke et al. 1980, p. 86.</ref>

Large mammals are not particularly numerous in Great Britain. Many of the bigger species, such as the [[grey wolf]] and the, [[brown bear]], Eurasian lynx, wild boar, [[Moose|Eurasian elk]], and [[reindeer]] were hunted to extinction many centuries ago. However, in recent times some of these large mammals have been tentatively (or have been suggested to be) reintroduced to some areas of mainland Britain. The largest wild mammals that remain in Britain today are predominantly members of the [[deer]] family. The [[red deer]] is the largest native mammal species, and is common throughout [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]].

[[Rodent]]s are also numerous across Britain, particularly the brown rat which is by far the most abundant urban mammal after humans. Some however, are becoming increasingly rare. [[Habitat]] destruction has led to a decrease in the population of [[dormice]] and [[bank vole]]s found in Britain. Due to the introduction and [[invasive species|invasiveness]] of the North American [[Eastern gray squirrel|grey squirrel]], the [[red squirrel]] had become largely extinctextirpated infrom England and Wales, with the last populations existing in parts of North West England and on the [[Isle of Wight]]. [[European rabbit]]s and [[European hare]]s were introduced in Roman times,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/pets/rabbits.shtml |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-04-18 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630035620/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/pets/rabbits.shtml |archive-date=2012-06-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/European_Hare|title=BBC Nature - Hare videos, news and facts|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> while the indigenous [[mountain hare]] remains only in Scotland and a small re-introduced population in Derbyshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hare-preservation-trust.co.uk/mountain.html|title=Hare Preservation Trust|website=Hare-preservation.trust.co.uk|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref>

There are a variety of carnivores, especially from the weasel family (ranging in size from the [[least weasel]], [[stoat]] and [[European polecat]] to the [[European badger]], [[pine marten]], recently introduced [[American mink]] and semiaquatic [[Eurasian otter]]). In the absence of the locallyextirpated extinct [[grey wolf]], and [[brown bear]] and lynx, the largest carnivores are the badger, and [[red fox]], the adaptability and opportunism of which has allowed it to proliferate in the urban environment, and the [[Scottish wildcat]] population of the [[European wildcat]] (whose elusiveness has caused some confusion over population numbers, and is believed to be highly endangered, partly by hybridisation with the domestic catcats).