If i bought this land

[connerlake]

///// 3 Acre Land with various outbuildings \\\\\ on eBay (end time 29-Dec-09 15:36:39 GMT) which is about 3 acres, what animals could i legally release onto this land (british animals)?

[TheSeagull]

I believe the Wildlife and Countryside Act says that it is illegal to release '...any animal which is not ordinarily resident in Great Britain, or is listed on Schedule 9 to the Act...' and Schedule 9 includes species like the Grey Squirrel. So you should be allowed to release any but you wouldn't be allowed to capture some species without a licence. Why do you need to release animals? If you spruce it up enough they should find their own way there...

[connerlake]

I was wondering, not necessarily infact if the animals arnt in the area, (e.g just for example brown hare)

[thebeard]

like the seagull says, if it is managed correctly, wildlife should find its own way there. a proper survey of all habitats in the area to see what resides there would help you decide what would need to be done to make it more habitable, but introducing animals would bring about certain problems. Introduction of certain species could seriously affect the existing ecosystem, in terms of the ecology and factors such as predation, territoriality, resource availability, etc. translocating stock from other areas also may bring in disease or genetic problems which could be deleterious to the ecosystem.

it'd be a nice idea to get a piece of land with the aim of making it a haven for wildlife, i'd love to do it myself one day, but the introduction of animals may not be the best plan!

tom

[JoulesH]

Fully agree with the posts above. You can't just put animals on a patch if they are not suited to it and it certainly doesn't look like brown hare habitat to me, they prefer arable land with suitable cover for their forms. On our grassland farm we get few hares they are all on our arable neighbours but we do get plenty of other stuff! Even if you introduce them how are you going to keep them there? If you fence all you can, if your habitat is not suitable you are condemning them to a death because they can't seek a more suitable area. Looking at the grassland and the scrub in the photos you could have a fantastic wildlife site but you suss your site out first and what habitat it is already / could be providing and then work from there, not think of a species and then try and shoehorn it into a site, suitable or not. Also be aware that the habitats that already exist may be more valuable than anything you try and create, so if you do buy it I would get a survey done by FWAG or somebody to assess what you have and help suggest a management plan.