A whole nest of rare narrow-headed ants has been dug up with a spade and taken from a nature reserve in the English county of Devon, leaving a deep hole where the colony once stood, infohub.kz reports.
Conservationists discovered the loss during a routine inspection of the Chadley-Nighton Heath reserve. Where the colony had been, they found a freshly dug pit with marks from a garden spade. A single such colony can number between 1,000 and 5,000 individuals, including queens that can live up to 25 years.
The Devon reserve is considered the last remaining habitat of the narrow-headed ant in England: according to the latest count, only 142 active nests were left there. A few other scattered populations of the species survive only in Scotland. Because of the loss of its usual habitat, the insect is endangered and is included on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Representatives of the Devon Wildlife Trust charity called the theft a severe blow to a long-running species conservation programme and compared it to the illegal plundering of the nests of rare wild birds. The trust has handed the matter to the Devon and Cornwall police, who have opened a criminal investigation and urged possible witnesses to help the inquiry.