4 days ago
Wildlife team 'devastated' by Holt Heath fire animal deaths
A group that has been searching the burnt remains of a heath fire for surviving animals has said it is "devastated" by the loss of Dorset Heaths Partnership is made up of 10 organisations working together to protect and enhance the Dorset heathlandsPaul Attwell is the partnership's team manager and said the blaze, which started at Holt Heath near Wimborne in Dorset on Saturday morning, was "horrendous".He said the team found more than 50 dead reptiles on Tuesday alone and one live adder snake, which was moved to safety.
"The reptiles wouldn't have been that active at the moment, they'd have been underground, that's just a very small number of what would have been there," Mr Attwell said."Everyone that works in my team are really dedicated to conservation and we're here to protect and help look after these things so actually seeing them dead is quite disturbing."Dorset Heaths are home to all six native reptiles, the smooth snake, grass snake, adder, sand lizard, common lizard and slow team did find one adder that was alive, and they were able to move it to a safe area of fire, between Corfe Castle and Swanage, has destroyed an area about the size of 35 football pitches since it broke out, and was also believed to have been started from across the country came to tackle the blaze after a major incident was and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) said in an update at 10:30 BST, that "good progress" had been made overnight and crews were damping down hot spots.
"Heathlands are rarer on the planet than rainforests now," Mr Attwell added that he was "saddened" to hear the fire might have been started deliberately, but determined to keep getting the message out, and educating the public about the importance of the local heathlands."Hopefully people will appreciate them and see how valuable they are and not set fire to them," he also urged visitors who see a fire to call it in to the fire service and not to assume someone else already had.
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