MICHAEL Gove has declared war on “alien” invaders killing Britain’s wildlife — by drawing up plans to control and destroy them.
The Environment Secretary is preparing to blitz non-native species such as the grey squirrel and North American signal crayfish.
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Plants such as American skunk cabbage, giant hogweed and Chilean rhubarb will also be targeted.
Mr Gove’s Environment Department warns: “Invasive alien species challenge the survival of some of our rarest species, and damage some of our most sensitive eco- systems.
“Management measures consist of lethal or non-lethal, physical, chemical or biological actions aimed at eradication, population control and containment.”
The blitz could see fertility baits used to make grey squirrels infertile. The creatures carry a pox that has devastated the native red squirrel population.
The lobster-like signal crayfish, introduced in the 1970s for possible export, will be killed on site in “exclusion zones”.
It has out-muscled the tiny, white-clawed crayfish and feeds on fish and frogs.
Slider terrapins — introduced in the 1980s amid the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze — will also be targeted.
Many were dumped in ponds and rivers when they grew too large for their tanks.
They devour fish, newts and ducklings.
Labour’s Mary Creagh said invasive species cost the UK £1.8billion a year in damage to farming, wildlife and fishing.
Environment minister Lord Gardiner said Britain had been “sleepwalking” into today’s problems by failing to act “in previous decades and indeed previous centuries”.
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