© Holger Krisp CC BY 3.0
British Wildlife 37.1 October 2025

Bad newts? A century of introduced Alpine Newt populations in Britain

If you have spent any time around ponds, you may be familiar with Britain’s three native species of newt: the Smooth Lissotrion vulgaris, Palmate L. helvetica and Great Crested Newts Triturus cristatus. In total there are over 30 species of newts and salamanders found in Europe, the modest total in Britain being owed to the fact that during the Last Glacial Maximum (approximately 15,000 years ago) the only ice-free areas in the country were likely to have been tundra-like where only the hardiest of species could survive (Speybroeck et al. 2016). 

Since its introduction in the early 1900s this most flamboyant of European amphibians has quietly infiltrated ponds across Britain and Ireland, but does its arrival threaten native species? 

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