Common Lizard returns to Rutland Water after 15 years

Common Lizards have been spotted at Rutland Water for the first in over 15 years.

In 2007 there was a project to translocate over 50 common lizards to Lax Hill, in the heart of Rutland Water Nature Reserve, from a proposed development site at the Wing Water Treatment Works.

The lizards were moved to the south-facing side of Lax Hill on the Nature Reserve, where a suitable receptor site had been created using piles of rocks within an existing area of acid grassland and gorse scrub.

Despite their best efforts to save the lizards, the project was initially considered to have failed as in the years following the translocation, no lizards could be found during surveys.

However, in the summer of 2023 we had numerous sightings of both adult and juvenile lizards at a number of different locations around Lax Hill.

The common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) is widespread in Britain, although it is considered to be declining due to habitat loss.

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