Waterways charity warns terrapins could be breeding in Britain’s canals

Ecologists fear that terrapins, bought as pets and illegally released into the wild, may be breeding for the first time in Britain, following an unusually hot summer.

This coincides with the sighting of a baby terrapin on the Regent’s Canal in central London.

The Canal and River Trust, which cares for 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales, had concerns that the hot summer would provide the terrapins with ideal conditions to start breeding.

Paul Wilkinson, ecologist at the Canal and River Trust, said: “We’ve been concerned that the trend of increasing temperatures associated with climate change would give terrapins the conditions they need to successfully breed, something which could be a disaster for some native wildlife.”

“We’ve heard anecdotal reports that eggs had been laid. Now we’ve found this juvenile, the hunt is on to see if there are more out there, especially if they are displaying their egg teeth – a sign that they are recent hatchlings.”

Keeping terrapins as pets was a huge craze during the late 1980s and early-90s following the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. However, many were illegally dumped in canals once they grew too big for domestic fish tanks, leading to an European ban on the species.

The baby terrapin was spotted by Kevin Jarvis, a biology graduate, who said: “We have quite a lot of wildlife by the boats, including about 15-20 adult terrapins, which we often see in the evenings, but this juvenile really stood out.”

Paul Wilkinson also commented: “We’d be keen to hear from anyone who has spotted a match-box sized terrapin. It would help us to determine that they are definitely breeding, and by finding out where this is taking place it will enable us to see the extent of the problem and what measures we might be able to take.”

Image courtesy of Canal & River Trust