Environment

Is it illegal to collect tadpoles?

After harping on for weeks about going to get some frogspawn I eventually took my 5 year old at the weekend. When she took the tadpoles into school she was told by her teacher that it was illegal - not sure if she meant collecting tadpoles (as too late for spawn) or keeping them? Does anyone know for sure?

Taddy99 Wed 11/06/08 22:24

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Androcles
Wed 11/06/08
22:41

Not according to these guys!

http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articl es/education/resources/curriculum/ecologyposte r/rareplants/wildlife.doc/

paddywak
Thurs 12/06/08
20:10

I walk Max my dog on a reclaimed pit tip managed by the forestry commision,who regularly guide visits from the local schools. At this time of the year the all the parties of younger kids come off with a bucket full of tadpoles to take back to school.if it was illegal I'd have thought the rngers wouldn't let them do it

wildwood
Sat 14/06/08
04:53

The teacher may have been referring to the Pool Frog.
It seems as if this is(was) a British native but became extinct and has been repatriated from a Swedish population. I don't know how they can still regard this as a native now - go figure.

it is very unlikely that you would have caught taddies from a pool frog though. They were almost certainly the common frog - up to recently the only UK native frog - so I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe the teacher is a greenie.

burnhal
Sun 15/06/08
20:39

It is not illegal at all to remove tadpoles- or spawn. The only limitation with the common frog within the 1981 countryside and wildlife act is that sale of them is prohibited.
However consideration should be made regarding the spreading of two diseases-Chytridiomycosis and ranavirus - If frogs are moved to another pond there is the possibility of spreading these diseases. owever as frogs tend to move around anyway, albeit mostly returning to their birth pool to spawn, provided they are released in the same vicinity as they were collected shouldnt be a problem.
To be honest the survival rate from spawn to breeding frog is so miniscule that shifting spawn and tadpoles about isnt going to make much difference.
Please tell teacher to speak from the correct orifice.

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