Carp moved to lake may be killed due to newt threat

The great crested newt is the largest and rarest of the three species of newt that can be found in the UK

Authorities may have to kill fish that were placed in a Southampton lake due to the threat they pose to a legally-protected species of newt.

Last month, Southampton City Council said people had moved carp from the ornamental lake into the boating lake on Southampton Common while there was a drought over the summer.

However, these type of fish could eat the great crested newts' tadpoles and efts (baby newts) in the boating lake and moving the fish elsewhere could spread disease.

Councillor John Savage said during a council meeting last week that some of the carp might now have to be euthanised.

He said: "Those carp that have been put in there are a great threat to the young newts which have just come out of their tadpole condition, shall we call them, and there is a real threat there.

"There is all kinds of action that is taking place right now to try to work with the Environment Agency to remove the carp from that location.

"Unfortunately, some of them might have to be euthanised because they pose such a problem to a very special endangered species."

The Wildlife Trusts describe great crested newts as looking like mini dinosaurs.

Known as the "warty newt", the amphibian is protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, while it is a priority species under the UK Post-2010 Diversity Framework.

The great crested is also the largest and rarest of the three species of newt that can be found in the UK.

They can be identified by being almost black in colour, with spotted flanks and an orange belly, the Wildlife Trusts say.

The council also previously warned that moving fish and disturbing habits was a criminal offence.