Or which species isn't on the list but you think should be?
http://www.discoverwildlife.com/nationalspecies
http://www.discoverwildlife.com/nationalspecies
Which one would you vote for?
- Thread starter Bushwhacker
- Start date
I don't know much about British wildlife (only what I learned from watching "Wild Britain"), but I guess I would vote for the badger. It's a species I have never seen (only roadkill in Sweden) but I would love to watch!
Red Squirrel and Water Vole would get another vote.
Red Squirrel and Water Vole would get another vote.
Tough choices. Definitely not the swallow, why pick a creature that buggers off somewhere else as soon as it gets a bit cold? Red squirrel? An animal that we've let be pushed into massive decline by American invaders. Not a good symbol. Badger again would be a bad choice if we start to cull them but maybe making it a national symbol would help save it. All the others are a bit weak or generic for me.
I'd vote for the oak tree out of all of those I think. Massive old oaks are iconic landmarks around here and more oak woodlands need to be planted in my opinion. Maybe this would help ensure that.
I'd vote for the oak tree out of all of those I think. Massive old oaks are iconic landmarks around here and more oak woodlands need to be planted in my opinion. Maybe this would help ensure that.
Fox,brown rat or maybe feral pigeon.
Both found in countryside and town, with population that reflect the UK landscape changes and mirror their human counter parts.
The UK countryside is virtually an irrelevance except for its tourist (inc day trippers) value. Tourism generates more money than farming does. So something to reflect the chances.
Both found in countryside and town, with population that reflect the UK landscape changes and mirror their human counter parts.
The UK countryside is virtually an irrelevance except for its tourist (inc day trippers) value. Tourism generates more money than farming does. So something to reflect the chances.
I think I'd have to go for the otter: If only because it symbolises a successful re-introduction campaign and a much needed clean-up of our waterways and rivers, and so many of these schemes start with a huge fanfare, consume a lot of resources and then come to nothing,therefore causing cynicism and lack of support for other such schemes on the part of the population at large.............and of course 'cause they're fabulous, cheeky and highly intelligent animals and deserve their right and proper place in the UK scheme of things.......................atb mac
On the list it would either be brock or otter but I think the red fox should be at the top of the list & the UK's foxes really are a species apart & even seem to be evolving & filling the ecological niches left vacant by the absence of larger canivores....Improvidus , Apto quod Victum 
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Elen Sentier
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
It was really hard! I voted for the robin but the oak is so British too, and the red squirrel, and the otter, and the badger, and the hedgehog.
None of those species is British at all, whatsoever from my point of view. Not even a little bit. All of them are here too and pretty much everywhere else in Europe.
Had to be badger, oak, or otter. In the end I went for badger as adopting it makes the cull look even sillier than it is anyway.
Elen Sentier
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I'm an outsider for this but just my 2 pence. I often associate the oak with the UK too. It's a native species, tough, long lived, and used throughout old British architecture. But that said, why would you limit yourself to EITHER a national tree OR a national animal? Yes, here in the US we have the Bald Eagle as our national bird/animal. But the individual states also have their own such desidnations. And most (if not all) states have three separate designations. One each:
-State bird or animal
-State flower
-State tree
I think the UK certainly rates at least that much consideration.
-State bird or animal
-State flower
-State tree
I think the UK certainly rates at least that much consideration.
I've noticed all those entries are cute or standard. Yeah there's one missing, and it's been at the forefront of British literature just as much as the others and for far more centuries. It's not cute, in fact many people would rather see them dead. I'm sure I don't need to bang on about it as you know me and it's been my work and avatar for many years
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Difficult choice for me, its down to two as I've noticed them both on the increase locally to me, the Robin and the Otter.
None of them. How about Scottish Crossbill? Our only endemic species. Or Red Grouse as a close second - only a sub-species, but its management has shaped the UK uplands for the better.
Looks like the hedgepigs walked it in the end. The oak was robbed...
http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/britains-national-species-revealed
http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/britains-national-species-revealed
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