Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Puffins, capercaille and red squirrels among 10 endangered species of Scottish wildlife that are at risk

Capercaillie (Getty Images)
Capercaillie (Getty Images)

THE red list of endangered species of Scottish wildlife will not be revealed until next month but a number of Scottish species are known to be at risk amid warnings more must be done to protect them.

Puffin

(RSPB)

In 2000, there were 33,000 puffins on Shetland but last year there were 570. Climate change is blamed as the increased sea temperature means puffins have to travel further to catch sand eels, their main food source.

Flapper Skate

(Shark Trust / Twitter)

Now more at risk of extinction than the giant panda. The Skatespotter Project was launched last month to catalogue sightings. It is illegal to land flapper skate and it is a key species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Water Voles

(Getty Images)

The once-abundant voles have had one of the biggest population declines over the last century and is one of the most threatened native mammals. In the 1960s there were around eight million in the UK but a survey this year estimated a population of around 132,000.

Wildcats

 I
(Getty Images)

Now “functionally extinct” in the wild with estimates of between 30 and 300 left. The main threat has been breeding with feral domestic cats along with illegal hunting, habitat loss and lack of prey. It is a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.


SCOTLAND’S NATURAL DISASTER – READ MORE:


Red Squirrel

© Getty
(Getty Images)

Scottish Wildlife Trust warns it could disappear in a generation. Its decline is blamed on the bigger, non-native grey squirrel and a lack of immunity to the deadly squirrel pox virus it carries.

Freshwater Pearl Mussel

(Getty Images)

The critically endangered mollusc became extinct in, on average, two Scottish rivers per year between 1970 and 1998, when it was granted full legal protection. One of the biggest threats to it is illegal pearl fishing but also water pollution and engineering work.

Capercaillie

(Getty Images)

The largest member of the grouse family is at risk of extinction in Scotland as its numbers have halved in just over 20 years from 2,200 in the early 1990s to an estimated 1,114 birds. Experts blame climate change, deer fences, predators, housing developments and sports such as mountain biking.

Northern damselfly

(Getty Images)

These are now only found in a handful of sites around lochs in Speyside, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire. It is sensitive to pollution and temperature changes.

Native Honey Bees

(Getty Images)

Dating back to the Ice Age, the bees are threatened by cross-breeding with imported honey bees and also by parasites. A Black Bee Reserve was set up on Colonsay in 2014, and the newly formed Scottish Native Honey Bee Society is carrying out a survey.

Fonseca’s Seed Fly

An insect similar to the extremely rare fly

The tiny invertebrate is one of the rarest in the world as it is only found on the coastline at Coul Links in northern Scotland. It thrives there but experts say its “perilously small” population is threatened by a golf links.