Welcome to the third edition of Eye on the Wild, our new weekly roundup designed to keep you up to date with the latest stories concerning British wildlife.
Each week, we’ll share important news, updates and stories from across the UK, including issues, species, and campaigns that may not always make the headlines. We’ll also highlight ways you can help and take action for wildlife.
If you have a story you think we should cover, email us at contact@protectthewild.org.uk
The UK’s first Heathland Green Bridge has opened in Surrey
Cockrow Bridge opened to the public on 22 May. It crosses the A3 near Cobham, offering snakes, toads, and other species a safe way to cross between heathland habitats. The bridge reconnects Ockham Common and Wisley Common, which have been separated since the A3 was built in the 1970s.
Sand lizards, foxes, deer and badgers have all been spotted using it. The sand lizard is the rarest lizard in the UK. The destruction of heathland and coastal dunes for housing and agriculture has been devastating for the species, pushing them to just a handful of strongholds in Dorset, Surrey and Merseyside.
The UK already has green bridges on the A556 in Cheshire, the A30 in Cornwall, and the A21 in Kent, but none designed for lowland heathland until Cockrow Bridge. With lowland heathland among the UK’s rarest and most threatened habitats, projects like this are vital.
The UK’s green bridges prove that nature doesn’t have to be an afterthought in development.
The government met this week to talk about catapult wildlife crime. Will it actually act?
On 9 June, the Home Office brought together politicians, police and animal welfare organisations to discuss catapult crime and the gaps in legislation that leave wildlife unprotected.
In the UK, owning or carrying a catapult is legal. But using one to cause harm could already break existing laws. Campaigners have long been calling for tighter legislation to make it an offence to carry a catapult in public without a licence.
The meeting comes after an Early Day Motion (EDM) that was tabled back in March, which condemned the increasing misuse of catapults against wildlife, domestic animals, private property and people. The EDM called for legislation on the sale, possession and use of catapults. The groundwork was laid by campaigners, who had already gathered thousands of petition signatures.
Teenagers showing off their shots on social media have helped drive the surge in catapult attacks on wildlife. Kent Police states that it records an average of 14 incidents of crime involving catapults every day. And just days ago, two ducks and one goose were allegedly murdered by youths using catapults at a canal in Kidderminster.
The government must act urgently. Existing laws are not enough to protect wildlife.
Hedgehogs have been found covered in paint in Kent
Dottie’s Little Hog Hospital has rescued hedgehogs that appear to be covered in paint and nail varnish in Herne Bay, Kent.
Dottie’s is a specialist rescue centre which provides care for sick, injured & orphaned hedgehogs. It has seen five cases in the past month alone.
Wildlife centres in other parts of the country have also seen cases of hedgehogs covered in paint, too. Rescuer Rosie Fisher stated:
“We think it’s probably people seeing hedgehogs in their garden and thinking it’s their hedgehog and marking it.”
Other rescuers agree that this seems to be the bizarre reason why people are painting the animals.
But Dottie’s wants to remind the public that fumes from paint and nail varnish can be toxic to hedgehogs. Another rescuer has warned that hedgehogs have had allergic reactions to the substances that have killed them.
Unbelievably, this isn’t the only cruel act inflicted on hedgehogs. There have been a a number of cases of the animals being tortured and painted.
Hedgehogs are fighting for survival in the UK. It’s estimated that there were some 30 million hedgehogs in Britain in the 1950s. By the 1990s, this number had plummeted to 1.5 million. In 2020 the hedgehog was added to the Red List for British mammals, listed as a creature at risk of extinction.
Hedgehogs deserve our protection, not our cruelty.
Scottish wildcats have given birth to kittens in the Cairngorms
There’s some more good news for wildlife! Released Scottish wildcats have given birth to kittens for the third year in a row. Several released females have given birth to new litters this June.
Habitat loss, persecution and interbreeding with domestic cats have driven the Scottish wildcat to the edge of extinction. To increase the population, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) leads the Saving Wildcats programme – a conservation breeding effort involving zoos, wildlife parks and private collections across the UK. In 2020, the programme celebrated a record year, with 57 kittens born in captivity. Since then, wildcats have been released into the Cairngorms National Park, with wild births now recorded for the third consecutive year following breeding successes in 2024 and 2025.
Breeding success offers real hope to this extremely vulnerable species.
A children’s soft play centre and mini zoo has caught fire, killing all the animals trapped inside
The fire ripped through The Jungle Box in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, on Wednesday. The cause was unknown. As the building burned, ten fire engines rushed to tackle the blaze.
The business opened last June, and describes itself as a jungle-themed soft play centre. But it was a prison for meerkats, snakes, tortoises, iguanas, owls and genets, and none survived. No people were injured in the fire.
That anyone thought combining a children’s soft play centre with a mini zoo was a good idea speaks volumes about how little regard was given to the animals involved. All animals deserve dignity in life and in death, but The Jungle Box took both from them.