Greenham Common adders to star in Britains Big Wildlife Revival
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) guided wildlife presenter Nick Baker to sites on Greenham Common where he could find adders to film this spring.
The adder, Britain’s only venomous snake, relies on heathland such as Greenham and Crookham Commons to survive.
BBOWT spokesman, Neil Clennell, who is a specialist in reptiles and snakes, located the adders for the TV crew.
He said: "The adder is part of our folklore and an enigmatic little serpent; but, alarmingly, adders seem to be disappearing from large parts of the countryside, and the loss of habitat and persecution are certainly playing a part in the decline of the adder.”
On Sunday at 5.35pm on BBC One, in the first of the six-part series, Nick Baker tracks down the adders at Greenham Common to learn more about the threats faced by adders, and the conservation work that organisations like BBOWT are doing to help them.
Mr Clennell added: “BBOWT is working with Natural England and the Zoological Society of London on a project to help us understand whether isolation limits the genetic diversity of the remaining populations in our region.
“What we learn from the adders on the West Berkshire heaths may prove crucial to the future conservation of this fascinating but threatened animal.”
Britain’s Big Wildlife Revival highlights the plight of Britain’s most at-risk animals, discovering why they are under threat and what is being done to halt their extinction.
The series will also encourage viewers to get involved to save habitats and provide refuges for the animals featured in the series.