THE TELEGRAPH, BBC, THE TIMES, INEWS, INDEPENDENT, CHANNEL 4 NEWS report the Wild Cat and Greater Mouse-eared Bat are among those species teetering on the edge of disappearing, according to the State of Nature Report 2019, the first of its kind conducted in partnership with the government. Other mammals in decline include the European Watervole, the Eurasian beaver, the European hegehog, the Orkney vole and the hazel dormouse.

Nature is in decline, the wide-ranging survey has found, and 41 per cent of UK species studied have noticeably fewer numbers than when rigorous scientific study began in the 1970s. Additionally, 15 per cent of species – nearly 1,200 – are threatened with extinction from Great Britain, because of intensive agriculture and climate change.