Water vole
With a 90% decline in recent years the water vole, once common and widespread, is one of our most endangered mammals. Extinct in several regions of the UK the water vole and its habitat is now protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but unsympathetic riparian management and large-scale development continue to destroy suitable habitat. This and the presence of the introduced American mink means that the water vole continues to decline in numbers and range.