Amazing animals that once roamed Great Britain

Incredible creatures of Britain's past

With its rolling hills, woodland and low-lying fields, it can be hard to picture anything apart from cows, sheep and foxes roaming around the landscapes of the United Kingdom. However, thousands of years ago, ferocious dinosaurs and giant millipedes were among the unlikely beasts that dominated the country before they were driven to extinction. Sadly, today, Britain’s wildlife continues to be under threat with one in six species on the brink of dying out.

Read on to discover incredible animals that once inhabited the UK (and to see which ones are making a comeback)...

Brown bear

Brown bears were once a common sight in Britain. These wild beasts – who can grow to be nine feet (2.7m) tall when stood on their hind legs – were the country’s largest carnivores. However, by the time of the Ice Age (approximately 11,300 years ago), they were already becoming increasingly rare, mainly inhabiting Yorkshire, the East, the South and London.

Eventually, bears died out in the wild here. The human interest in them did not wane though, and they were regularly imported for entertainment until the 20th century.

Grey whale

Giant grey whales once swam through Britain’s waters. These graceful marine mammals, that tend to live in small groups and feed on crustaceans, can grow up to 49 feet (15m) in length.

Since the 18th century, their numbers have been eliminated in the UK as a result of commercial whaling. Fossilised bones of grey whales have been discovered in Devon and Cornwall, as well as Scotland, suggesting a migration route that stretched from Morocco right up to southern Scandinavia.

Great auk

This black-and-white bird might look like a penguin, but it’s actually a great auk, a flightless seabird that used to live on remote islands around the UK. Their preferred habitats included St Kilda and Orkney in Scotland, as well as the Farne Islands in Northumberland.

Sadly, these beautiful creatures were hunted to extinction for their meat, feathers and fat. The last living great auk was spotted in 1852. None have been seen in the UK since.

Wolf

The howls of wolves could be heard across the UK for thousands of years. It’s thought these apex predators crossed over from Europe between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. These highly intelligent canines were widespread across the country.

However, as wool became an increasingly valuable commodity, protecting sheep against wolves became a key priority. Wolves were also seen as competition when it came to hunting. By the 18th century, wolves were extinct in the UK.

White stork

Famously associated with carrying babies in their beaks, storks were once commonplace in the UK. Archaeologists believe white storks have lived in Britain for at least 360,000 years. Sadly, the last breeding pair were located in Edinburgh in 1416.

For hundreds of years, until 2020, none were seen nesting in the UK. Then, two breeding pairs were successfully reintroduced to the Knepp Estate in Sussex. Since this time, over 250 storks have been released over southeast England with great success.

Cave lion

Today, the only place you’ll see a lion in the UK is in a zoo. Around 13,000 years ago, however, you would have found these enormous felines prowling through southern Britain. Evidence of these creatures has been discovered in East Anglia, Somerset, Wales and Devon.

They were thought to be the largest wild cats that ever lived, with studies suggesting they were 25% bigger than an African lion that you could see on safari today.

Black rat

Black rats aren’t native to the British Isles. It’s thought they arrived on ships from India during the Roman occupation. These rodents gained a reputation for spreading the bubonic plague – or Black Death – between 1347 and 1351, killing more than a third of Europe’s population.

This was only recently dispelled by scientific studies. While they aren’t officially extinct in the UK, there is no evidence of thriving populations. Some may exist on islands including Alderney and Sark.

Dalmatian pelican

With a wingspan of just under 10 feet (3m), Dalmatian pelicans are among the largest flying birds in the world. This incredible species – known for their bright orange beaks and distinctive yellow eyes – lived in Britain for thousands of years.

Archaeological evidence has identified breeding grounds in Somerset around 5,000 years ago. However, they left after the country’s wetlands were drained around 500 years ago. In 2016, one was spotted near Land’s End in Cornwall.

Ammonite

Walk around the Dorset coastline and you’ll spot these spiral fossils etched into the cliff faces. Ammonites were molluscs that lived in British waters between 450 and 66 million years ago.

Like their distant relatives, octopuses, squids and cuttlefishes, these sea creatures are thought to have had eight arms, which sprouted from the end of a shell. It’s the fossil of this shell that is commonly found along the British shoreline today.

Frosted yellow moth

With their sunshine yellow wings tinted with black speckles, you couldn't mistake these inimitable moths as they fluttered around southeast England and Scotland. They were generally spotted flying in the daytime between May and August.

However, they’ve not been seen on Britain’s shores since 1914 when the last moth was spotted in Essex. Specimens still exist in the Natural History Museum in London.

Elk

Waterlogged forests and marshlands are the preferred habitat of these huge semiaquatic deer. Today, they mainly reside in North America and Asia. Their diet consists of 20kg (44lb) of food per day, with underwater vegetation making up a huge proportion of this (that's even more than hippos).

Amazingly, they did live across Great Britain until around 2,000 years ago. In recent years, a pair of breeding elk have been brought together in Kent as part of efforts to return this species to the UK wild.

Hippopotamus

You’d expect to find hippopotamus in Africa but not the British Isles. However, these enormous mammals once inhabited Britain’s lakes and rivers. In 2021, a PhD student uncovered a hippo’s tooth in Westbury Cave in Somerset, dating back over one million years.

Previously, experts had thought that hippos lived in the UK around 750,000 years ago. Head to the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Museum to see the bones of this creature in real life.

Beaver

Canada isn’t the only home of the beaver. These cute furry mammals are master architects of the natural world, building dams and digging canals that maintain wetland habitats and reduce flooding.

They are native to Great Britain but unfortunately were hunted for their fur and scent oil (used in perfume production), wiping out the entire population by the 16th century. Thankfully, successful restoration projects in recent years have enabled these animals to thrive again in the wild – from Scotland to Kent.

Steppe pika

These cute tailless mammals were once widespread across Britain during the Late Pleistocene period (between 129,000 and 11,700 years ago). Records show they lived as far north as Cumbria and the Scottish borders.

However, warming temperatures, as well as changes in habitat and hunting, led to their demise. Despite looking like rodents, these creatures are actually related to rabbits. Today, you can only spot them in high-altitude areas in Kazakhstan and Russia.

Arctic fox

With their pristine fur and dark almond eyes, arctic foxes are possibly one of the most beautiful mammals to have lived in Great Britain. Unfortunately, as the country's temperatures warmed at the end of the last Ice Age, their habitat decreased and they died out.

You can still spot them today in Arctic regions across the world, although they were almost hunted to extinction in Scandinavia. In 2023, five Arctic cubs were born in captivity at the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland.

Potters Bar beetle

The quiet suburban town of Potters Bar on the outskirts of London became famous among entomologists in 1912. Inside a moorhen’s nest, an amateur beetle scientist called E.C. Bedwell found a male and female pair of beetles that were the only ones of their kind in the world.

None have been sighted since. This preserved creature now resides in the Natural History Museum. It’s remarkable that Bedwell discovered it in the first place, considering its tiny size.

Woolly rhinoceros

Scientists believe that woolly rhinoceros lived in Great Britain until the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago. Its fleecy double-layered coat would have kept it warm during the freezing winters, while its horn would have been used for foraging.

Warming temperatures, habitat destruction and hunting are thought to have led to the species’ demise. Head to Reading Museum to see a jaw fragment from 28,160 years ago or Weston Park Museum in Sheffield for a lifelike reproduction.

Arthropleura

Don’t like insects? Look away now. These giant millipedes crawled around the UK’s swamps and woodlands for possibly 45 million years before they were wiped out 250 million years ago by predatory reptiles.

The discovery of a fossil in Howick Bay, Northumberland, in 2018 revealed that they could have grown to just under nine feet (2.6m) long – roughly the same length as a small car. Incredibly, the fossil was discovered by accident after a boulder fell off a cliffside just as a PhD student was strolling past.

Large copper butterfly

The striking orange wings of the large copper butterfly were first spotted in Lincolnshire in 1749. These pretty insects – measuring 44 to 52mm wide – used to emerge in July.

Yet, just 100 years later, the species was declared extinct with its last sighting in Cambridgeshire in 1851. It’s thought that the draining of eastern England’s fenlands (wetlands) and the resulting effects on agricultural land destroyed the butterflies' habitat.

Eurasian lynx

Wild cats used to roam freely around the United Kingdom. Just a little bit smaller than a labrador in size, lynx once lived in Britain’s woodlands, hunting roe deer as well as foxes, rabbits and birds.

These reclusive felines are known for their sharp eyesight. They lasted in Scotland up until around 1,500 years ago. These days, lynx can still be found in the wild in Scandinavia, Switzerland, Germany and Eastern Europe.

Iguanodon

It’s hard to believe but, before 1842, no one had used the word ‘dinosaur’. The Iguanodon was one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered. Large teeth belonging to this species were uncovered by Dr Gideon Algernon Mantell in East Sussex in 1825.

Scientists believe that these 33-feet (10m) long reptiles lived in England around 140 to 110 million years ago. Unlike the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex, these beasts were likely herbivores with very long tongues that they used for reaching and chewing plants.

Walrus

Ancient bones that were excavated in Suffolk suggest that an ancestor of the modern walrus used to live in Britain. A pair of lower jawbones of an Ontocetus posti, the Latin name for a walrus-type animal, were found in Norwich and were dated back to the Ice Age.

Theories suggest that global cooling caused sea levels to drop and freeze, destroying the Ontocetus posti’s habitat around 1.7 million years ago. This shift would have created room for the walrus to emerge on the planet.

Auroch

Britain is known for its cow-filled fields. But before these grazing animals existed, aurochs – a wild cattle species – roamed the land. These large horned creatures were bigger in size than modern cattle and weighed around 1,000kg (2,200lb), roughly the weight of a medium-sized car.

Auroch became extinct in Britain during the Late Bronze Age, probably due to overhunting and loss of woodland. In Scotland, there are plans to reintroduce a type of cattle bred to resemble them.

Common tree frog

Nicknamed ‘the noisiest frog in Europe’, these tiny amphibians once hopped around the UK. The first written record of tree frogs dates back to 1646, when they are thought to have been commonplace around Britain.

However, fossils suggest that tree frogs inhabited Britain at least 12,000 years ago. Studies show that these cold-blooded amphibians lived in the UK right up until 1987, but none have been spotted since.

Woolly mammoth

It’s hard to picture these enormous beasts wandering around Britain’s forests and moorlands. But 30,000 years ago, according to archaeologists who discovered the remains in a cave near Plymouth, they did.

These remains aren’t the only evidence of woolly mammoths in the UK. Other specimens have been found in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Scotland. Despite their furry appearance, these animals did not live in glacial areas and actually preferred sub-arctic tundras where there was a greater abundance of food.

Cave hyena

Yorkshire isn’t the place you’d expect to find hyenas. In 1821, however, quarry workers found unusual bones in Kirkdale Cave near Pickering. Initially, they were thought to be cattle bones, with workmen using them to fill potholes, before a naturalist spotted them and thought they might be significant.

Archaeologists believe that hyenas used the cave as a den, during the last Ice Age, between 11,000 and 33,000 years ago. One of the hyena’s jaw bones is available to see at the Yorkshire Museum.

Cullum's bumblebee

There are 270 different types of bee in the UK. These pollinators are drawn to Britain’s cool climate. There used to be 13 more species, but they have unfortunately died out.

One of them was the Cullum’s bumblebee, named after natural historian Sir Thomas Cullum. It was first recorded in 1802 and last spotted in Berkshire in 1941. It also vanished from many countries in Northern Europe including the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Leopard

Leopards are just one example of wild cats that lived in the British Isles around 32,000 years ago. Skeletons and cave paintings of these elegant felines have been discovered all over the country – from Essex to Derbyshire.

Experts believe they lived in highlands and forests to avoid competing with other wild cats. Interestingly, their fur spot pattern made them more closely resemble a modern snow leopard than the kind you’d find in Africa and Asia today.

European pond terrapin

Pond terrapins – also known as pond turtles – lived in Britain’s waters around 5,500 years ago. These semi-aquatic omnivores lived in rivers, ponds and lakes, eating a mostly plant-based diet.

Pond terrapins spend a lot of time lying on logs and rocks, using the sun’s warmth to regulate their body temperature. Experts believe the cooling climate and creation of new oceans wiped out this species in the UK. Today, they still live in the wild in Southern Europe, as well as Africa and Asia.

Plesiosaur

Few animals are more terrifying than the plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in British waters between 215 and 66 million years ago. Archaeology studies suggest these beasts could have been up to 49 feet (15m) long and weighed 45 tonnes.

At the end of its snake-like neck and head, its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth used to feed on fish. The first two complete plesiosaur skeletons were discovered by a pioneering female palaeontologist called Mary Anning in Lyme Regis in 1823.

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