London is home to loads of unique wildlife if you know where to look. WORDS: Trevor Paddenburg
There are no apes swinging from the trees and not a toucan in sight, but the London jungle is still a thriving ecosystem. In what other city could you fish for squirrels (more on that later), shovel giraffe dung, hunt a fox, see a giant sewer rat or poke a piranha — all within coo-ee of Big Ben?
Hedgehog
Looks like: Small, brown, spiky ground dweller.
Spot ’em: Snuffling and grunting through the undergrowth in your garden. Or in Regent’s Park.
Field notes: They’re the UK’s only spiny mammal — adults have up to 5000 spines. The cute little buggers have changed little in 15 million years, though in London most don’t survive their first winter because there is bugger all natural habitat and therefore not many invertebrates to munch on.
Squirrel
Looks like: Cute little critter with a bushy tail.S
Spot ’em: Woodland, parks, up trees and in cemeteries.
Field notes: The native red squirrel has all but disappeared from London, replaced by the imported American grey squirrel.
Did you know squirrels are either right- or left-handed! And have you tried squirrel fishing? It’s the practice of ‘catching’ squirrels by coaxing them towards you using a peanut tied to a string or fishing line and a pole. In most cases, squirrels playfully tug and grapple with the nuts, while the fisherman skilfully reels in the quarry.
Fox
Looks like: Scruffy red/brown coat, about the size of a cat.
Spot ’em: After dark running across roads or rummaging through garbage. You’re more likely to hear them — the vixens’ howls sound like a screaming baby.
Field notes: Cunning and adaptable, foxes have flourished in the city as opportunist feeders, scoffing fruit, rats, pigeons, pet rabbits and garbage scraps. There are 10,000-odd in London, though more than half of the population perishes annually, about half of them killed in car accidents.
Muntjac deer
Looks like: A deer with small antlers and shiny red-brown coat.
Spot ’em: Havering, Hillingdon, Bromley and Waltham Forest, plus Sydenham Hill Wood in Southwark and Tooting Bec Common in Wandsworth.
Field notes: The smallest of London’s six deer species and originally from China, the muntjac is also the best suited to life in the city, surviving in even the smallest wooded areas and foraging in backyard gardens for peas, beans, roses and bluebells.
Water vole
Looks like: Dark fur and a fat face like a hamster.
Spot ’em: On river banks and streams, mainly the inner Thames marshes.
Field notes: Water vole numbers have dropped 95 per cent in 10 years. Spot ’em while you can.
Rat
Looks like: Grey, dirty and evil.
Spot ’em: On the Tube; in your sharehouse kitchen.
Field notes: Be afraid. Be very afraid. Rats in the capital are thriving thanks to a protein and mineral rich diet of trash-can pizzas, burgers and kebabs. In fact, giant rats the size of a small dog have been caught in south London.
Peregrine falcon
Looks like: Broad wings, grey plumage, distinctive moustache.
Spot ’em: Above London, particularly near the O2 and Battersea Power Station.
Field notes: These falcons are the fastest birds in the world. London’s peregrines use the city’s tall buildings and structures as substitutes for their usual crag and cliff-ledge nesting sites.
Wild boar
Looks like: Round, covered in pastry.
Spot ’em: At Borough Market.
Field notes: Devour a wild boar pie on your next visit to Borough Market. Damn tasty!
Piranha
Looks like: A fish with sharp teeth.
Spot ’em: South America, or the Thames.
Field notes: There are more than 120 species of fish in the Thames and the piranha is definitely not among them — its home is in South America, 8000km away. One was found in the Thames in 2004, though. Scientists reckon it was in an aquarium before being released into the river, where it couldn’t survive the cold.
Whale
Looks like: Big, black, buoyant.
Spot ’em: In the Thames, rarely.
Field notes: In 2006, a 5m baby northern bottlenose whale swam up the Thames to Chelsea, but died a few days later. It was the first time the species had been seen in the river.
» For more information see www.wildlondon.org.uk
Exotic species:
Want to get up close and personal with some of London’s more exotic wildlife? Take the challenge with these courses at London Zoo.
» Tackle a tarantula
Get over your arachnophobia and come face to face with a host of hairy arachnids in the Friendly Spider Programme.
» Shovel giraffe dung
Muck out the giraffe house, clean the penguin pool and go behind the scenes with the big cats on the Keeper for a Day course.
Get involved
» Volunteer
London Wildlife Trust is on the hunt for volunteers, with duties from surveying water voles and practical conservation sessions to campaigning to save London’s wild spaces. Call 020-7261 0447 to find out more.
» Local eco groups
Join your local environmental group. For a full list log on to Wild London.
» Field work
The National Trust regularly calls for wildlife buffs to take part in flora and fauna surveys in the field. See National Trust.
» Animal hospital
The London Wildcare Trust needs qualified volunteers to help look after sick and injured animals. See London Wildcare Trust.