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danube crested newt :: Article Creator

Great Crested Newt

Common Name: Great Crested Newt Scientific Name: Triturus cristatus Average Life Span In The Wild: Up to 25 years Weight: 0.22 to 0.37 ounces Size relative to a teacup: IUCN Red List Status:? Least concern

Least Concern Extinct

Current Population Trend: Decreasing

The great crested newt lives only in Europe. Females, which are larger than males, can reach 7 inches in length, making these stout-bodied amphibians the continent's largest newts.

Etymology

The great crested newt is also known as the warty newt because it has skin that is covered in small bumps. The skin contains glands that secrete a milky, acrid-smelling substance to dissuade predators. Its other common name derives from the dramatic, jagged crest that males develop along their backs during the spring breeding season.

Coloring

These newts are generally dark colored on top and orange or yellow with black spots underneath. They also have white speckles on their flanks and a large, vertically flattened tail that bears a white streak down the side.

Behavior

Great crested newts are nocturnal and are voracious eaters, feeding on worms, slugs, and insects on land, and tadpoles and mollusks in water. They are more terrestrial than most newts, but must remain near bodies of fresh water to keep their skin moist.

These newts spend a significant portion of their lives in hibernation, usually from around October to March of each year. On a rainy night in March, they awaken and trek back to the pond where they hatched to mate.

Reproduction

Females lay from 200 to 300 eggs, but only about half develop into tadpoles. Tadpoles emerge from their eggs in about 21 days and feed on small insects like water fleas and tiny worms. Warty newts are extremely long-lived, with some exceeding 16 years of age. Like all newts, they can regrow body parts if necessary, but that ability diminishes as they age.

Conservation

Some great crested newt populations are in decline. They and their habitats are protected under European law.


Rare Newts Encouraged To Breed In New Pond Plans

New ponds need to have an unpolluted water source, remain fish-free and undisturbed by dogs, according to the Newt Conservation Partnership

Seven new ponds will be introduced at a beauty spot to encourage rare wildlife to breed.

The clean water ponds, along with eight hectares (18 acres) of wet grassland, will be created at Stoke Park Farm near Bishopstoke, Hampshire.

It is hoped the area will provide a habitat for species like the heavily-protected great crested newt.

Work is expected to start in the autumn, according to Eastleigh Borough Council.

Great crested newts spend most of their time on land and only return to ponds for breeding in the spring

The authority has teamed up with the Newt Conservation Partnership for the scheme.

Anna-Marie Dennis, who is leading the project, said hedgerows, trees and scrub would be planted in the area.

"This will allow great crested newts to move about the landscape in sheltered safety," she said.

"Like all amphibians, newts spend most of their adult life on land returning to ponds to breed in the spring."

The iconic amphibians are a European protected species, making it a criminal offence to harm them, their eggs or their habitats.

Differing in size and depth, the new ponds will provide a variety of different habitats.

Other priority species, such as toads and water voles, dormice, damselflies and dragonflies, butterflies and breeding birds, will also benefit from the environment.

The habitat will be managed by the council for 25 years, with annual monitoring carried out by the Newt Conservation Partnership.

More on great crested newts

Forest habitat restoration gets funding boost

Rare species set to benefit from £1m peatland project

New ponds to encourage wildlife at nature reserve Related Links

Eastleigh Borough Council

Newt Conservation Partnership

Abermule Great Crested Newts Search Before Build 'insufficient'

The great crested newt is a protected species in the United Kingdom

A search for protected newts on land earmarked for bulk recycling plant was "insufficient", an ecologist has claimed.

Powys council hired experts who did not find evidence of great crested newts at the site in Abermule.

But ecologist Sarah Rochelle has looked at the data gathered and said the newt's presence could not be discounted.

The council said it was "not aware of any reports of newts on the site".

Experts hired by the council tested the site in October and November 2018.

Great crested newt mitigation guidelines state that trapping should be done for a minimum of 30 nights, in suitable conditions.

The Abermule site

They also state that five days with no captures is required before the site can be considered free of newts.

But Ms Rochelle said the data gathered showed there was a five day suspension of trapping during a colder snap and after four nights of no captures the work finished on 11 November.

She said: "It is considered that the trapping effort was insufficient to declare that the site is free of great crested newts.

"As the habitat appears to remain intact there is reason to believe that newts may have moved back to the site, particularly given the poorly maintained fencing.

"As a result it is considered that the presence of great crested newts cannot be discounted and that if development works were to proceed there is a high risk of committing an offence under current legislation."

The council's experts said a series of measures are planned so any great crested newts associated with a pond at the site are not affected. There will also be population surveys.

A Powys council spokesperson said its ecologists had visited the site and added: "We are not aware of any reports of newts on the site at Abermule."

Waste plant backed despite opposition

Hundreds protest against recycling centre

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'First ever Newt Officer' created

Ed Sheeran calls in newt experts



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