{"id":26079,"date":"2025-07-27T23:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T23:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/26079\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T23:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T23:14:17","slug":"water-buffalo-boost-wildlife-at-hertfordshire-nature-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/26079\/","title":{"rendered":"Water buffalo boost wildlife at Hertfordshire nature reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Pope<\/p>\n<p>BBC News, Hertfordshire<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753541588_655_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/f86e1640-6897-11f0-b5e0-83f7c45d2898.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Robert Phillips A large herd of water buffalo, in a field, looking in different directions, they are amongst long grasses, and trees behind them. They are large and a dark colour with horns. There is also a fence in the distance. \" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Robert Phillips<\/p>\n<p>The animals originate from Asia, where they are found in wet habitats such as riverbanks and marshlands<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">A herd of water buffalo introduced to a wetland two years ago is having a positive effect on wildlife, a charity has said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust said the animals, based in Wivenhoe in Essex, had been returned to Thorley Wash Nature Reserve for a third year to graze ditches, waterlogged marshy areas and wet grassland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Reserves officer Kathryn Dunnett said biodiversity had improved, with vegetation turning greener and more wildflowers appearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The 13-hectare site (32 acres), to the south of Bishop&#8217;s Stortford, is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753541588_655_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3858eb60-6896-11f0-bdb2-f7c69d61451f.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Robert Phillips Four water buffalo graving in a field, with long grass around them and bushes and trees behind them. They are facing in all different directions. \" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Robert Phillips<\/p>\n<p>The buffalo were sent from Sunnymead Farm in Wivenhoe to graze on the reserve<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The species is &#8220;hardier and more tolerant of waterlogged conditions than domestic cattle and better suited to the conditions at Thorley Wash&#8221;, the charity said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;They clear the dense and scrubbier vegetation to improve that habitat, which it is hoped will help species such as endangered water voles, successfully reintroduced to Thorley Wash in 2015.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">If they were not employed, heavy machinery would have to be brought in to keep the ditches clear, it added. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Ms Dunnett said: &#8220;Year on year, we&#8217;ve expanded the area that the water buffalo have grazed at Thorley Wash and we are really pleased with the effect they are having on the habitat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;We are seeing the vegetation take on a much greener appearance \u2013 they are clearing the dead matter and the composition of the vegetation looks to be changing, with a bit less sedge and more grasses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753541588_655_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/68a64420-6873-11f0-8f9f-1d38db11c370.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Kathyrn Dunnett Five volunteers, working in field, mending a fence, there is green all around them, wet ditches and trees and bushes behind them. \" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Kathyrn Dunnett<\/p>\n<p>Volunteers have worked to mend the fence on the nature reserve<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Senior reserves officer Dan Townsend said volunteers had been instrumental in  enabling the water buffalo to graze, by checking them and flagging up any concerns they have.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;We really couldn&#8217;t do this without the support we get from our fantastic volunteers&#8221;, he added. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753541588_655_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/4b2c2f40-6873-11f0-8f9f-1d38db11c370.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Richard Burkmar Marsh Marigolds, in a nature reserve, showing yellow flowers, with green leaves\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Richard Burkmar<\/p>\n<p>More marsh marigolds have grown on the reserve, the charity said <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Pope BBC News, Hertfordshire Robert Phillips The animals originate from Asia, where they are found in wet&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-26079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}