Believe it or not, these are all UK species.
Admittedly ones you’re unlikely to see in your local area, unless you live in St Helena, the Falkland Islands or Montserrat. You see, these species call the remote UK Overseas Territories home.
We’ve just undertaken a stocktake of our overseas nature so I thought it was high-time that some of these species got the limelight they deserved.
Last year I did the same for some of the species featured in the State of Nature report, so now here’s a run down of some of the bizarre and endangered species from the UK’s Overseas Territories:
Spiky yellow woodlouse
With a global population of around 90, it’s fair to say that this woodlouse is a bit rarer than the ones you might find crawling about your shed. In fact, these spiky characters live in just one tennis-court sized patch of black cabbage trees, at the top of one of St Helena’s tallest peaks. They’re pretty funky looking too!
Bermuda cedar
As well the famous triangle, Bermuda is also home to an endemic cedar tree. And it too nearly disappeared. During the 1940s an introduced parasite wiped out over 90 per cent of Bermuda’s cedars.
As the most dominant tree in Bermuda, this had huge knock-on effects for the rest of the Island’s nature. Thankfully, a successful conservation effort has brought this tree with great cultural value in Bermuda back from the brink. Today a cedar seedling is often placed on top of Bermudian wedding cakes, to be planted by the couple.
Falkland steamer duck
This flightless duck is so called as it propels itself through the sea with both feet and wings, water spraying everywhere, and its breast cutting through the water – much like a paddle steamer. It’s actually one of the largest ducks in world, and incredibly aggressive. This duck will fight to the death in the breeding season – now that would set feathers flying on your local pond.
Montserrat galliwasp
Not a wasp, or even something that impersonates one, it’s actually a critically endangered nocturnal lizard. It survives in tiny numbers in the rainforests of Montserrat – a UK Overseas Territory famous for volcanic eruption from 1995. A 2006 survey recorded just three of these endemic lizards, making it one of the world’s most endangered.
Anguilla racer
A new car? A bike perhaps? No, this is snake from Anguilla – a Caribbean island. Little is known about this snake, but we do know that it’s non-venomous, feeds on lizards, frogs and turtles and is much more active during the rainy season.
Our work overseas
This all goes to show how little is known about our overseas wildlife. There are loads more that didn’t make my cut – like a clownfish, ghost orchid and dwarf gecko.
On our website, you can learn more about our work in the Overseas Territories, read the full report, and find out how you can help them.
For more on our science, check out the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science web pages.