The great
crested newt (Triturus cristatus) is conserved wherever it lives
in the UK.
Protected
by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and the European Habitats
Directive (1994), the newt is also a priority for Biodiversity
Action Plans and some areas of high population are protected as
Sites of Special Scientific Interest or Special Areas of Conservation.
The great
crested newt is the largest newt found in Britain, reaching up
to 165 mm (5 陆 inches) long. The adults can be distinguished by
their dark, usually black, colouring, which is marked with small,
white spots. The underbelly is a fiery orange or paler yellow.
The "crest" is a flap of skin sported by the males in the spring,
and is virtually invisible when the newt is out of the water.
Survey records
for Norfolk collected over many years and produced by the Norfolk
Biological Records Centre show the newt occurs across the county,
especially in the south and north east.
This is good
news for newts, but we should not get complacent.
Great crested
newts have a complex ecology, relying on dry land and ponds. A
healthy population usually occurs where there is a cluster of
ponds linked by a suitable land habitat, allowing the newts to
travel between ponds.
This extended
newt family is called a "metapopulation" and enables newt populations
to be more stable over time, able to survive the temporary drying
out of a pond or two in the cluster.
Suitable habitats
to link ponds include rough (not mown) grass, woodland edge or
hedgerows. The habitat also needs to contain damp, frost-free
shelter, such as grassy tussocks or fallen wood, for hibernating.
great
crested newts factfile>>>
