# General > Biodiversity >  questions about newts

## becca

I'm pretty sure i've read somewhere that it is against the law to remove newts from their environment? Is this correct.
Many Thanks

----------


## starfish

newts are a protected  so i would say yes that correct*Frogs, Toads and Newts - UK Amphibian*Block all www.letsgogardening.co.uk results

It is _illegal_ to handle these _newts_ as they are a protected species. *...* It is okay for these _newts_ to be _removed_ from danger by a member of the public

----------


## becca

Thank you for the quick response Starfish, yesterday I was in Dunnet Forest and noticed a couple with their young child had newts and tadpoles in plastic containers and where heading to the car park??? I was unsure of what to do, as i didn't know how the law stood and didn't want to get into an arguement.

----------


## starfish

i am sorry to say the day has gone when you could go fishing in you nans pond with a bent safety pin and bit of knitting wool on a cane and a worm fishing for them happy memories

----------


## sids

The forest gets a lot of visitors. There will be no newts or tadpoles there if idiots take them away.

----------


## Dadie

Hey we took some tadpoles a week ago from the "wild"....they are going back once they change.
To the same pond and area we got them from..they are in a tank with a filter and a big rock as a platform for when they need it and are fed daily with algae tabs and lettuce and once the legs start to appear they will start to get offered tubifex worms and then live bugs.
Wouldnt touch the newts as some are more protected than others......
But watching tadpoles turn into frogs is a wonderful science project to do with children, and as long as they have the best care and conditions to live in while observed and they go back...more tadpoles will have become frogs as no one to eat them in captivity and the kids learn a lot.
Just dont use tap water without using tap safe first.........it will kill them.
We used rainwater for ours.

----------


## becca

Dadie,
totally agree with you regarding tadpoles, as long as they are returned to the wild. I did the same as a child, was a great way to learn about wildlife and as you mentioned more of them have a better chance of surviving but I felt the newts should have only been observed and released straight away and not taken away from the pond. Maybe the people that did take them do have the correct environment set up at home but then again they may not.

----------


## Dadie

Oh forgot to say if taking tadpoles from the wild its better to think you might not have enough, than to think by filling the tank with loads you will get a frog at the end of it, as the tank will have more oxygen and less waste products and easier to keep clean and healthy(saves killing the whole lot by getting slightly wrong which will be magnified into something big wrong) and the tadpoles will be less inclined to eat each other if they are not in competition for everything with each other!

----------


## r.rackstraw

Only the Great Crested Newt is protected. 
The newts in Dunnet Forest are Palmate Newts and are not protected. It is not an offence to take them from the wild.

----------


## Dadie

just thinking it the weather at the moment ....my tadpoles will have a better chance of survival than those in the "wild" as the outside temps are fluctuating quite a bit and are on the cold to freezing side of things (depending on water depth etc)...but think we have our 1st non survivor as its not growing at the same rate as the rest!

----------


## sids

Legality and children's curiosity aside, there's little doubt that the best way to look after wildlife is to leave it alone and little doubt that the numbers of visitors to Dunnet could deplete the populations if they start removing things in jars.

----------


## donnick

Dadie you seem to know a lot about tadpole and you kids will have great fun watching them change .x

----------


## Dadie

Thank you Donnick!
Our tadpoles have just had a partial water change, and their bodies have doubled in size and are starting to elongate rather than looking like a O.
Not long for backlegs I think its just a week or two away...then meaty meals.
Only 1 death which isnt bad odds.

----------


## Dadie

We have our first froglet!
Well Im hoping its a froglet ...could be a toadlet but its too early to tell....
It has all 4 legs and is using them to "walk" on the leaves on the aquatic plantlife.
Only one tadpole left without legs which is a pest as it still needs algae while the rest are happy with tubifex worms!

----------


## tonkatojo

> newts are a protected  so i would say yes that correct*Frogs, Toads and Newts - UK Amphibian*Block all www.letsgogardening.co.uk results
> 
> It is _illegal_ to handle these _newts_ as they are a protected species. *...* It is okay for these _newts_ to be _removed_ from danger by a member of the public



Would this apply if the appeared inebriated ?.

----------

