The problem with reintroducing large herbivores without natural predators is imbalance of the ecosystem, for example forestry in Scotland where the deer eat the young trees. The same occurred in the Yellowstone National Park until wolves were reintroduced.

Great video. You from Norfolk ?

You missed out Reendeer. Although they had become extinct at the end of the last Ice age here in England, others believe they managed to cling on to existence for much longer in Scotland....they have however been re-introduced to parts of Scotland and Northern England

Some fascinating info there !! Just brilliant 🤩!! Did you film 🎥 the footage of the white tail eagle & the other animals on this post ! Great captures!👍 big thumbs up as always 👍

I'm surprised the Red kite didn't make the list, ok it didn't go completely extinct but from what I remember it went down to a few pairs in wales, the reintroduction in South Oxfordshire where I live was a massive success, in my area they are one of the most seen birds probably because they are large and bold, I live in a town and it's not uncommon to have 6 or more hovering above the garden.

I think I could have talked my dad, who was a devoted angler, into accepting beavers by pointing out that they were making new fishing environments which would give him a bit of a challenge and make his fishing more interesting.

Great video Liam, really enjoyed it. In fact we enjoy all of your videos. But what about the Scottish wild cat, anything about that. Thank you Liam keep them coming.

Great video as always Liam. I think my opinion on what makes an animal native is the same as yours.

Really interesting, thanks Liam!

New subscriber and love the content!! How come the Capercaillie population is such decline in the UK?!

When I used to work for the Forestry Commission we would routinely go to the Forest of Dean and it's surrounding areas to watch Wild Boar be culled, if their breeding gets out of hand they can be devastating to the local woodland, peoples gardens and agriculture. People seem to forget the last time they were native here about a 1/4 of Britain in the 13th Century was covered forest, now it's down to about 13%.

Just so you know beavers don't eat fish,so happy anglers.And the habitats they create are fantastic for fish and wildlife.they also slow down rivers with there dams witch prevents flooding.There dams also catch carbons that's good for the planet.😊

Good video my friend Have a happy day

I used to live in Devon, and would often see, and hear BUZZARDS hovering. They became extinct in the SOUTHERN COUNTIES due to the culling of rabbits. However, since the practice of poisoning stopped, the buzzard has made a remarkable resurgence accross the Southern counties. They can be seen in numbers on the Sussex Downs, and their call (mewing) is unmistakable. I've heard there are colonies in Kent also.

Ooh I do like a nice bit of wet beaver action. Good footage! 👍

Very helpful. Thanks.

bison, good idea, brilliant vid thankyou

Love your videos Liam. Many thanks.

Interesting video, Liam! Why is it that the Barn owl is listed both as a native and non-native? Aside from the comments that have already been made about introducing and managing large herbivores in the UK, I think it's important to think about how these species would be looked after for decades to come; I'd hope there's a decent plan in place. Besides, I do question the resource allocation of the limited conservation funding that we have as it can sometimes favour charismatic species such as the bison, with perhaps the temptation to turn areas of re-introduction into attractions, all at the same time as other species' conservation efforts remain under funded or completely neglected 🤷

Beavers on the Otter😅😂 I'm an angler & as far as I'm concerned reintroduction of beavers is a positive thing, how could it not be? They're meant to be here. I've seen em a few times now & the effect on the landscape up here in Scotland .

I have spent this evening on my boat watching Beavers on a river in Kent. I have been out many times this year and I have seen them on every occasion. Tonight I saw 3 three Beavers and heard three splashdowns in the dark. This was a poor night. Normally see them in double figures.

Great video mate :D

There is a population explosion of deer in Scotland and this is a major reason why so much of the landscape is barren of trees. The deer eat the saplings. Bringing back the wolf would bring back some balance and reduce deer numbers, which would also permit more trees to grow. People say the wolves would kill the sheep but there is a solution to that which is 100's if not 1000's of years old, shepherd dogs. They defend the flock very well indeed.

Loving this informative series. Never knew of the White tail Eagle. It's ok introducing some one otherwise exstinct animals and birds, but the biggest threat comes from man. I fear for all the animals, especially beavers, and hope they are not persicuted. Bison, sounds great but, as so much land is being built upon and after spending, they'd probably be better in remote areas fenced in.thank you.

Brilliant vid as always 👏

The reintroduction of large predetors is also a must

Very good video

I'm chuffed to hear they are trying to revive the legendary Aurochs. THOSE would be something to see!

3:28 I have never seen a Bittern yawn before, and that is actually terrifying haha!

The only time I have seen a white failed eagle was at Carlton Marshes. It was close to a pair of Marsh Barriers which gave a good comparison in size - the eagle is huge!

I support the reintroduction of the wildboar as we have a lot of areas of poorly managed woodland that needs to be recultured in the undergrowth. I love the introduction of beavers and am glad that the reintroduction of the wildcat is being worked on, as we need more predators. Then Lynx. Then we can really talk about bigger herbivores. Though I am glad we have 4 eurasian bison in the first stage of being released. Widespread release too early yet.

Great 👍

Whenever i travel to Banbury i see Eagles soaring quite often. Managed to get some cool pictures and videos.

With the Bison, even if they weren't originally native, the aurochs was. It woud be the replacement of one for another and give how endangered they are, theres a lot of places they can do some good.

very interesting

I got the impression that you implied that the capercaillie was on the way to extinction in the world. “150 male capercaillies in the world”. Living in Sweden where 25% of this species are to be found and where it is still hunted, I was alarmed. There is a decline in southern Sweden, but the population is estimated to be somewhere between 400,000 and 900,000 birds. The gap between the estimations suggests that no one is particularly interested.

Ive had a White Tailed Sea Eagle fly to my hand on a day long experience to fly them and other raptors at Eagle Heights,Kent.Amazing to have a massive Eagle fly to your hand,although most of the time the food was snatched from my hand and only settled on my hand 1 time,it was a still an incredible experience

Nice bro

I agree with the underpinning sentiment of rewilding but Oostvaardersplassen has killed its feasibility without (ironically) heavy handed management. Which of course, its not supposed to require. Knepp is an example of where, in limited circumstances it can work, but then again it's the luxury project of an aristocratic family. I'd much prefer money and time put into purchasing land from farms and estates to create wildlife corridors, protecting ancient woodland, encouraging farmers to adopt low input techniques and campaigning for better protection of rivers. Most of our wildlife has adapted to traditional mixed arable/livestock countryside, ancient and managed woodland. I'd wager the above would have a greater positive impact than pushing rewilding. Which is, regardless of intent, attempting to revert a heavily populated island back into a pre-holocene world.

As some one who is trying my apsolute best trying to get into the conservation sector, I only have a few months at college and then I hope I could do get into a university in wildlife conservation at the lakes. As for my career aims is to restore this land as mutch as possible before I am to do careers in Canada

I'm glad the Euasian Bittern has avoided extinction in the UK. The male makes a strange mating call, rather like a person blowing over the top of a flagon. I like all Ardeidae.

Brilliant as always 👌👏

Aw, the beavers are adorable.

I think it is hugely important to protect all species with dwindling numbers irrespective of whether they are native or not so this video gives me hope. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of these will find success and thrive in the long term. Great work as always Liam.

The west coast of Scotland that has any forest or large areas of scrub land is full of wild bore, and I have had many incidents of almost crashing into them as they come running onto the road from the brambles next to the road

8:20 neither good or bad just GREAT!!

The bison’s are doing well in kent and have had a calf also beavers have been spotted in kent as well

I enjoy your narration on vids you do Leon, please don’t stop. You are my escape to the outdoors.

I know there was talk of reintroducing the eurasian lynx back into the UK, but has been fiercely rejected by farmers. Any further movement on this do you know Liam?

I have to wonder who was the first person to consider tasting the beaver territory marking fluid Castoreum and think "hell yeah, that tastes like vanilla" !

Extinct! Yet are back? Hmm! I must be missing something. Jurassic Park must be a documentary then.

The reason why Barn owls are listed both as a native and non-native is because male British barn owls (Tyto alba alba) have pure white chest while Central European barn owls (T. a. guttata) have brown spotted chest. They're subspecies of each other. I guess it is similar to the issue of red squirrels and grey squirrels.

Bison were reintroduced into the American Great Plains to help maintain that environment. From a count of around 30,000 there are now estimated to be around 500,000. There was a herd near Stonehaven, in Scotland, but unfortunately they all had to be culled due to BovineTB. The other question is are they wild or livestock since they are enclosed and cannot roam as they would normally do in the wild?

Ever since I’ve heard about the Beavers on the river Avon I’ve been determined to try and spot some as I live close by, too bad they haven’t released the locations so there may or may not be any local to me 😂

“Loudest bird in the uk” Oh it can’t be that loud! *looks at the way it screams* Me: 😦

Rewilding is excellent. I would like to see wolves and lynx returned to the wild.

I was walking around the Norfolk Broads recently and kept hearing a bird screeching. Wonder if it was a Bittern? 'Orrible sound, almost like a child screaming?

Without a doubt it’s fantastic that these animals are making a comeback, whether naturally or introduced. It’s vital that they are given the space that they need to roam, increase diversity and basically do they’re thing. This subsequently will have the desired positive impact on the environment, that the entire nation will benefit from. This I fear tho will be the biggest obstacle/push back by private land owners and farmers, I wouldn’t imagine that giving up all those crop fields, sheep & cow grazing, that’s been in their family for generations, back to nature, will get that much buy in with many of the aforementioned. I hope 🙏 I’m wrong and there is huge buy in to increase our wild space. Could start with the national parks…There is always the very important and the obvious need to have something to naturally control said herbivore numbers in these areas (which is clearly already the case with Deer numbers in the UK) We need our carnivores back otherwise the imbalance will increase massively on other species all the way down to the smallest. One aspect needs the other, and it’s the right thing to do. Let’s hope that ultimately that’s the aim and we are prepping the way for more re-introductions, I don’t think we could be far from a being in the position to offer a larger carnivore the opportunity to come home. The Lynx would be a fantastic edition to our ‘semi’ sterile countryside and I am sure will become as iconic here as in the many other places it inhabits. 😁

All British people love a beaver!

bitterns are actually miniature storks and herons

I did NOT know about some of them. I think it's good news on the whole but I'm a bit worried about the speed with which wild boar breed, I've seen what's happened in texas, I don't know if these are the exact same but the ones in texas breed more than wild rabbits. However, obviously in texas they won't have to deal with freezing winters like we have here. I'm not an expert or anything, so it's just my opinion. Shame about the capercailie (don't know how to spell it) If only we could get did of those horrible mink : (

Next I'm hoping for some wolves in the highlands

Awesome

The conflict between the pine Martin and the Scottish turkey is ancient and natural. Seems to work out okay in Norway.

Love the idea of re introducing lost species but serious considerations need to be made on farmers etc with the damage they may cause.

What about the European Crane or the great Bustard?

Bizons are magnificent creatures i come from European Bizon homeland and we never have problem with them or wolfs.

This is not just a good idea..........it's a super idea!

Reintroducing Canadian Wood Bison would be a better fit in the UK than wisent if it was a species of wood Bison that went extinct.

I wonder if these small mammals stand a chance. I see comments about us having no big predators. I don't see that as the issue. I lean more towards hunters and dogs stopping the numbers growing at any substantial rate legal or not. Small pockets on protected lands maybe but could you imagine a group of British teenagers coming across a beaver dam and leaving it alone?

Judging by some of your videos and accent, I think you are relatively local to me. If you fancy coming down to Kingfisher Nature reserve near Ely, Cambridge, we have European bison, konik ponies, and apparently a large portion of the bittern population, as well as an SSSI. I work at the bushcraft school, so I might be able to get to staying over night if you fancy camping.

I hope that the numbers all animals will keep increasing,I love wild life,we should all be protecting them,and the places they live in,stop cutting our trees down just to build more roads than we need,it is affecting our eco system.

I don't get how we can wipe out native species so easily. Yet we struggle to get rid of invasive species

Wild boars are a massive pest in Texas! Thousands of feral breeders on the loose stripping fields and farmlands! They grow big too! It is Texas!

All. Good

What about the timber wolf? 🐺

They have been humming and hawing about the wolf packs in Scotland for decades....my whole life in fact and I am in my 60s! I think the fact they have to cull deer every year attests to the fact they dont need to kill domestic animals!

Isn’t a owl considered a bird of prey so technically the biggest bird of prey is a owl in Britain

I see on Russian-Siberia documentaries they are recovering mammoths from areas of melting rice. Still with skin, flesh, blood and tissue intact. They are seeking to replicate them with mammoth DNA transfer to female elephants. Same technique as the sheep 'Dolly.' I look forward to one day having the occasional mammoth back.

I would bet the beavers can control flooding better than some authorities 😅

Im always stunned at how the government class canada geese as non native yet they made their home here naturally. Release from rescues is forbidden unless you have permits and yet the domestic cat or the feral cat is allowed to be released into the wild, even near nature reserves. They are responsible for the destruction of reptiles, amphibians, birds, small mammals and even the scottish wildcat by hybridisation. The turtle dove, scottish wildcat and the natterjack toad amongst others are decreasing at a massive rate. Its sad that the government doesnt really care

Rewilding,.....What a great way to go,.....

I live the rewilding!! We need more :D The only problem being those that want to hoard land and make impassable barriers. Its more expensive but completely doable, and worth it, to protect individual fields and give them and us the space to roam. All these estates making there money off shootig birds have a horrendous impact on our right to roam and our wildlife. Its disgusting that to continue hoarding the land, they slay any native species that pose a threat to the birds they want to murder :S Backwards!

what about the lynx(es) and wolf(s)?

yes u need both prey and predators so what think is prey first for a few years and then the predators so the prey stands a good chance

With the boars, watch out for them impacting farmland. In America we have seen them explode without a native predator. Wolves or bobcats would be a good start. Not many farmers would warm up to releasing wolves. But they have a place in the natural process.

I wish people would leave them alone as WE are partly responsible for these extinction of these wonderful creatures as they have a right to live there lives just as we are

Stupid idea we haven't got the space for Wild Hogs let alone Bison, might well bring in Elephant's to destroy the woodland

If you have bison, you need wolves.

Bison yes what about reindeer in Scotland !

This Yank thinks very well of this project. I would love to be involved in such a task.

sadly the common is now rare so dont think your changing much

All good.

Wild animals are turned loose on a farmer's land, but doesn't become part of his property is something I don't understand completely! If a person can own land, then are things that on his property should be his.

We constantly hear people complain about the amount of farms and especially cows. What are bison? Cows!

What about the Cornish Chough? Recolonised Cornwall in 2001 after an absence of 50 years

See, people are capable of learning. Problem is we have been doing things the same way for three generations or more, people just don't know any better. If people don't get exposed to other agricultural/natural partnerships being tried in Europe or Asia or North America, it's easy to be a bit of an Ostrich with our proverbial heads stuck .

The Lynx needs to come back that way we could have some pretection of are trees! As these deer are just eating everything! Lynx are no threat to humans so it should be done!

Hmm with a lot of deer or bison without wolves to keep their populations checked there is a problem of ticks as they feed off them and carry lyme disease, (I know this from being bitten on an island in Scotland the Isle of Arran.

I really hope we can reintroduce wolves and lynx in the short to medium term then get working on bears it would be amazing to have functioning ecosystems in the uk again the damage done by uncontrolled deer populations is really bad in Scotland as they have no predators