Rare wildlife destroyed by heathland blaze in Dorset

May 20th, 2008. A carelessly-thrown cigarette is thought to have started a fire at the National Trust's Studland Heath which wiped out wildlife across 2.5 hectares of heathland, killing several hundred endangered reptiles, destroying nesting birds and their chicks and wiping out many rare insects and plants.

All six British reptiles

The site at Godlingston Heath, east of Studland, owned and managed by the National Trust, is one of the few places in Britain where all six native British reptiles can be found.  Alongside the adder, the grass snake, the common lizard and the slow worm, are vulnerable populations of our two rarest species, the sand lizard and the smooth snake.

National Trust experts believe at least 500 reptiles are likely to have died in the blaze, as well as nests and broods of several species of birds associated with lowland heath, such as the linnet and the very rare Dartford warbler.

The fire is thought to have been caused by a cigarette thrown from a car window.

Today Nick Moulton, a reptile expert from the Herpetological Conservation Trust, was scouring the area for surviving reptiles.  Those that are found unharmed will be relocated to areas unaffected by the fire. The hunt is focused on the sand lizard, which is much less able to survive fires than the smooth snake. 

"The snakes usually move out before the flames reach them, and their drab colouring makes them extremely hard for predators to see" said Nick Moulton.  "But the lizards are sitting ducks - they tend to stay put and suffer the consequences.  If they do survive they are easy for birds of prey and other predators to pick out, particularly the males with their bright green colouring."

So far eight healthy sand lizards have been found, some of them females pregnant with eggs, which they are on the verge of laying.  The animals will be released in suitable spots in the surrounding heathland.

A burned out bird's nest has been found - it is thought to be that of a shelduck.

It is expected to take up to 20 years for the area to be fully recolonised.

"Almost everything in the area has been killed by the flames and smoke" said David Hodd, the National Trust Head Warden for Purbeck.  "It could not have come at a worse time for the wildlife on the heath because it is the breeding season and they will all be rearing young.

"The only creatures which could have escaped will be those that were able to crawl into burrows and slit trenches - and even they will die if they emerge to find a wilderness around them with no cover and no food."

28 Fire engines required

Dorset Fire Brigade had to call on 28 appliances to extinguish the blaze.  They were able to make use of firebreaks through the heathland. "They did a great job" said David Hodd.  "We will be sitting down with them to see what lessons can be learned from this experience, in case this should happen again."