Brook newt from Montseny to Chester
04/04/2017 09:25 h.
The United Kingdom joins the Montseny brook newt breeding programme: 24 endangered species have moved to the Chester Zoo.
The Chester Zoo will house the fourth installation worldwide to promote reproduction of this endemic species, with 60 new aquariums. The United Kingdom has thus joined the breeding and reproduction programme for the Montseny newt, one of Europe's most endangered amphibians, listed as "critically endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and endemic to the Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve.
Twenty-four specimens of the Torreferrussa Wildlife Centre have been moved this week to the Chester Zoo, one of the most prestigious in amphibian recovery. In this way, the British zoo becomes the first centre outside Catalonia to have a specific facility for the reproduction of this species.
The transport has been carried out by land and air, guaranteeing the humidity and temperature conditions necessary for the success of the operation, reproducing to the maximum the habitat of these amphibians. In recent months, the Chester Zoo has worked to provide a specific and private space, far from other amphibians and visitors, to prevent diseases and other risks to new specimens. In total, the facility has about 60 aquariums, 27 for adults and 30 for larvae and juveniles. The offspring born within this program will be re-introduced into the Montseny.
This zoo becomes the fourth centre of the entire world within the breeding program of this endemic species, along with the Torreferrussa Wildlife Centre, Pont de Suert and the Barcelona Zoo.
For more information: see Press release of the Generalitat of Catalonia