'Dirty dozen' threaten waterways

The red-eared terrapin is a threat to birds' eggs and insect larvae

A "dirty dozen" of the 12 non-native species most likely to harm native wildlife along rivers has been highlighted by British Waterways.

They include red-eared terrapins which were introduced after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze of the 1990s.

Zander, mink, American signal crayfish, giant hogweed, floating pennywort and Japanese knotweed are also on the list.

British Waterways urged people to think about the environmental impact of releasing such species into the wild.

'DIRTY DOZEN' SPECIES American signal crayfish Australian swamp stonecrop Chinese mitten crab floating pennywort giant hogweed Himalayan balsam Japanese knotweed mink red-eared terrapin water fern zander zebra mussels

Invasive species can cause problems because they are normally bigger, faster growing or more aggressive than native ones and are often resistant to traditional methods of control.

The organisation spends �1m a year dealing with the problems caused by such species.

Its national ecologist Chris John said: "Whilst not all non-native species are harmful, many pose real problems to our native wildlife, to boaters and to our historic channels, locks and bridges.

"With no natural predators to control them they can overwhelm wildlife, channels, banks and towpaths.

Mink are often mistaken for otters but are smaller and far more aggressive

He added: "British Waterways invests a large amount of time and money to protect our canals and rivers through identifying, monitoring and controlling damaging species.

"This is very costly and diverts resources that could be used elsewhere on the waterway network.

"We are therefore asking people to help us by disposing of non-native plants safely and carefully selecting alternative plants for gardens, ponds and aquariums."

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