New species arrive regularly in the UK with the warming climate and are generally met with excitement by enthusiasts and scientists alike, given that they are a natural effort by a species to make the best of a difficult situation.
This “climate envelope” partially determines where animals are found, but the continued existence of many species now rests on the outcome of human-driven climate change.
We normally focus on preserving species within their modern ranges, and have traditionally viewed species that end up outside theirs as a problem.
Given their status as a non-native species, we were keen to find out how Aesculapian snakes are surviving in chilly north Wales, further north than anywhere they currently occur naturally.
Two accidental introductions, one in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, and another along the Regent’s Canal in London, have allowed this species to thrive in Britain.
