Vulnerable 'Ratty' water voles to receive environmental protection

Under plans announced yesterday, it will become a criminal offence to intentionally kill or injure a water vole, disturb their homes or take them from the wild.

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Campaigners hope it will halt the shocking decline of one of Britain's bestloved, and most threatened, mammals.

The rules will also cover Roman snails - Britain's largest snail - angel sharks and two species of rare seahorse.

Water voles are the UK's fastestdeclining native mammal.

In 1990, there were seven million living on the banks of rivers and canals. Yet by 1998, numbers had dropped to fewer than one million and are continuing to fall.

The creatures have been wiped out by American mink which have escaped from fur farms, and changes in farming which affect their habitats.

Stephanie Hilborne, of The Wildlife Trusts, said: "Water voles have been lost from many parts of the UK, including areas where they were once widespread such as Cornwall, but this excellent news will undoubtedly help our efforts to bring the water vole back from the brink.

"Full legal protection should ensure remaining water vole populations are not damaged during development works and that incidents of trapping do not go unpunished."

Previously it was only the habitat of water voles that was protected, not the animals themselves.

From April 6, they will join a list of species including the otter which already have protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The newly-protected animals are:

WATER VOLE

(Arvicolla terrestris) Sometimes called water rats, they are actually Britain's largest vole. Expert swimmers, they live on the ditches and banks around rivers and streams and feed on grass.

ANGEL SHARK

(Squatina squatina) With their flat bodies and large fins, they look more like rays and skates. They live on the seabed close to the shore, and hunt by burying themselves in sand or mud with just their eyes protruding, leaping up at passing fish and molluscs.

They were common 50 years ago, but decades of over-fishing have driven them near to extinction.

ROMAN SNAIL

(Helix pomatia) Roman or edible snails are Britain's largest snails, up to 4in long and 2in high. They are found in southern and central England, particularly on the Buckinghamshire downs. Legend says they were brought to England by the Romans.

Their shells are often white or light grey with pale brown brands. They live for ten years, and will stay within a habitat of 30 square yards.

SPINY SEAHORSE

(Hippocampus guttulatus) Seahorses are classed as fish, but have armour-like plates rather than scales. They use their tails to grasp on to plants, stay within a territory of one square yard and mate for life. They are one of the few creatures where the male becomes pregnant. Spiny seahorses are up to six inches long and live around the south coast, west coast and Irish sea.

SHORT-SNOUTED SEAHORSE

(Hippocampus hippocampus) Slightly larger than the spiny seahorses, the short-snouted variety live in only a few places in the English Channel. Like their spiny cousins, they are threatened by pollution and disturbance from boats.