keeping lacertids outside

[phil]

i think carefull positioning of outdoor vivaria for non-native lacertids must be the key to success. wall lizards and green lizards(only jersey) are native to the channel islands, which despite what the brochures tell you , have a cooler climate than southern mainland britain. incidentally, many experts maintain that the main reason for our few species of native lacertids is due mainly to the dissapearance of our land bridge with mainland europe after the last ice age. i have heard of several "feral colonies" of muralis currently doing rather well, without interference as far north as durham

[Iowarth]

Hi Phil. You are, of course, quite right. We have captive Sand Lizard colonies as far north as Penrith and Sheffield and a wild colony on Coll - one of the Scottish Isles. Very relevant as their requirements are greater than Wall lizards and almost the same as Green lizards. Both of these species can be found as naturalised thriving colonies along the south coast. In essence though almost any European Lacertid except some of the extreme southerly ones can be kept in outdoor vivaria almost anywhere in the UK - SO LONG AS THOSE VIVARIA ARE OPTIMISED IN TERMS OF MICRO-CLIMATE. Chris Davis. Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding and Reintroduction Programme

[phil]

hi mate, i think you're doing a sterling job with the re-introduction programs. it must be close on 30 years since i have seen a native sand lizard, even then it was only a fleeting glimpse. how are the merseyside colonies doing?

[Iowarth]

Hi Phil
Well, suffice it to say that you should find it much easier to see a Sand Lizard nowadays! So far as the three races are concerned the Dorset race remains the strongest in numbers, but with the immense pressure on land down here we are running like hell to keep that status - between 5000 and 6000 animals. The Wealden race was well on the way to extinction with only a few isolated remaining natural colonies 30 years ago totalling around 350 animals. By '93 we had this up to around 8-900 animals and are currently at around 2000. Merseyside has been a huge success - 200 in '76, 300 in '93. We now have nearly twice that number of breeding animals in one new re-intro site! Total population probably around 2000. As a further example in recent years we have bred and reintroduced in one year more Wealden and Merseyside animals than existed in the wild 30 years ago. So, slowly but surely all the effort with habitat management, breeding and re-intro is paying off.