Water voles released into wild at nature reserve

The water voles were released at Seaton Wetlands on Wednesday

A brand new population of water voles have been released at a nature reserve in Devon.

82 water voles were introduced to the wild at Seaton Wetlands on Wednesday.

The release by Wild East Devon, which manages the site, is part of a project to help restore populations of the species.

Ecologist Derek Gow said the wetlands were "exactly the kind of place" the voles would do well.

82 water voles were released into the wild as part of the restoration project

Mr Gow said he and his team had released about 50,000 water voles into the wild across Britain - adding the species had lost 97% of its range this century.

200 water voles were released at the site in 2018 but the team said they noticed numbers had started to dwindle.

Mr Gow said the latest release would help the voles already established there and "provide a different genetic boost to help them expand and prosper".

Fiona Coope from Wild East Devon said the release went "really successfully".

She said the voles were released one of two ways, either through a soft release where the vole starts in a pen before being given access to the outside world and given the option to acclimatise, or a hard release where the vole would go straight into the water source.