Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In 2017, the Montseny brook newt left its native home of Catalonia for the first time. At the request of the local government, 24 individuals made the journey to Chester Zoo in the UK as part of an ambitious conservation effort to boost their numbers.
The breeding programme has been successfully established, with 12 breeding pairs remaining at Chester Zoo. Meanwhile, 32 individuals have been released into a top-secret location to a mountainous habitat near Barcelona.
Though their numbers have dipped to around 1,000 in the wild, conservationists were encouraged to find that they have maintained reasonable genetic diversity in spite of this. It’s a long road ahead with habitat disturbance and fungal pathogens posing a significant threat, but hundreds more are expected to follow this initial return to the wild.
Read more: iflscience.com/very-very-rare-humpback-whale-birth-captured-by-drone-shows-calfs-critical-first-moments-and-moms-maternal-instincts-84275
Video courtesy of Chester Zoo
In 2017, the Montseny brook newt left its native home of Catalonia for the first time. At the request of the local government, 24 individuals made the journey to Chester Zoo in the UK as part of an ambitious conservation effort to boost their numbers.
The breeding programme has been successfully established, with 12 breeding pairs remaining at Chester Zoo. Meanwhile, 32 individuals have been released into a top-secret location to a mountainous habitat near Barcelona.
Though their numbers have dipped to around 1,000 in the wild, conservationists were encouraged to find that they have maintained reasonable genetic diversity in spite of this. It’s a long road ahead with habitat disturbance and fungal pathogens posing a significant threat, but hundreds more are expected to follow this initial return to the wild.
Read more: iflscience.com/very-very-rare-humpback-whale-birth-captured-by-drone-shows-calfs-critical-first-moments-and-moms-maternal-instincts-84275
Video courtesy of Chester Zoo
