ENVIRONMENTAL experts are exploring news ways to help stop the decline of water voles in the North-East – including harnessing dog-power.
The new methods are being investigated by the team behind Naturally Native, a project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and bringing together Durham, Tees Valley and Northumberland wildlife trusts.
As part of the project, a team of volunteers, working across the Tyne, Wear and Tees catchments, has been busy gathering information about potential habitats of water voles.
However, some areas can be difficult to reach, so the project leaders are now investigating new ways to carry out the important research.
These include taking water samples that can be sent for DNA analysis in laboratories to establish whether water voles are present in a body of water.
More recently, the Naturally Native team has teamed up with Conservation K9 Consultancy, which uses specially trained wildlife detection dogs to support conservation projects.
Project leaders and volunteers spent a day in the North-East with spaniel Hettie, along with her experienced handler, Louise Wilson, to help locate water vole signs along banksides and pond edges.
Kirsty Pollard, Naturally Native Project Manager, said: “Thanks to the players of the National Lottery, we’ve made great progress in gathering information about water vole populations, and our wonderful volunteers are doing a fantastic job.
“However, water voles can be challenging to monitor in certain environments, and it isn’t always possible or safe to reach some areas. Therefore, it’s a question of exploring other ways to gather as much information as possible about water voles.”
The dogs are trained to only locate water voles’ droppings and burrow-entrances, so the animals themselves are not disturbed.
“It is amazing to see how, with the right training and handling, these dogs can locate water vole droppings or burrows in areas which are challenging for people to access, or where vegetation is so dense it can be tricky to spot key signs. They can cover quite a large area which is really important for our Naturally Native Project which seeks to monitor and conserve water voles across the North East of England,” added Kirsty.
“There are pros and cons with all survey methods, and we will always be very grateful to our volunteers but being able to integrate other survey methods such as environmental-DNA samples and the use of wildlife detection dogs gives us a significantly better understanding of where water vole populations are and how we can help aid their recovery.”
Water voles were once common across the UK but have vanished from more than 95 per cent of locations due to the loss of their natural habit, leaving more isolated populations vulnerable to the introduction of American mink.
The water vole season is well underway and Naturally Native volunteers will be busy out and about, recording signs until late September. Anyone interested in helping with the survey, or finding out more about the project, should go to: www.durhamwt.com/naturally-native
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