Rare Merseyside lizards get a helping hand with egg laying

North Merseyside Amphibian and Reptile Group (NMARG) is celebrating the successful creation of egg-laying sites especially for the Merseyside sand lizard, a unique form of this rare and strictly protected species which has very specific egg-laying requirements.

Volunteers from the Amphibian and Reptile Group network have been spearheading emergency habitat restoration for the sand lizard on the Sefton Coast over the winter months.

They have created over 150 sand patches among the dunes of the Sefton Coast for the animals.

Now they can report that initial indications are that the sand lizards have adopted these egg-laying sites.

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UK's rarest lizards return to sand dunes

Rare sand lizards have been released on sand dunes in North Wales in a bid to revive ailing populations.

Seventy juveniles have been released on the Flintshire coast and a total of 400 will be reintroduced through the week to sites in Merseyside, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.

The sand lizards were bred at 10 specialist breeding centres, including Chester Zoo, over the summer.

The animals have suffered dramatic declines due to habitat loss.

Native populations now only remain in Merseyside, Surrey, and Dorset but even in these areas populations have dropped by 90% or more.

The reintroductions are co-ordinated by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC Trust) as part of a recovery programme that has been running since 1994.

Sand lizards only live on coastal dunes and heathland habitats, both of which have become increasingly fragmented through agriculture, housing and leisure developments.

The adult lizards can reach 20cm in length, making them the UK's largest lizard species.

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Rare sand lizards released back to the wild on Merseyside

Species has been lost from local heathland August 2011: The UK's rarest lizard has been given a helping hand, with 80 captive-bred sand lizards released on the Sefton Coast as part of a long-term conservation project to restore the species' status and historic range.

The release at The Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Freshfield Dune Heath is one of 19 projects within the Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme.

CAPTIVE BRED: Young sand lizards.
Picture: Phil Smith

In the UK, sand lizards only live on two rare habitats - sand-dunes and lowland dry heath. A healthy population still survives on the sand dunes of the Sefton Coast but they have been lost from the heathland.

Lizards are extending their rangeLast September, 34 juvenile sand lizards were released at Freshfield and a number have been found and photographed since, moving further away from the release site than had been anticipated.

Merseyside sand lizards have a unique genetic make-up and the juveniles due for release have been captive bred from local stock. The animals are being released later this month to allow them to get used to the reintroduction site before hibernation in October.

Fiona Whitfield of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust said: ‘We are excited at the arrival of a new species for the reserve and to be a part of these important local and national projects. There is a large population of common lizards on Freshfield Dune Heath so we are confident that the sand lizards will thrive here.'

The lizard release is part of a three-year Heritage Lottery Funded Project being delivered by the Sefton Coast Partnership. It is also supported by the North Merseyside Amphibian and Reptile Group, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Natural England.
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