Around 100 water voles are set to be reintroduced to a Lake District valley later this month.

Forestry England will release the animals at Wild Ennerdale on 12 August as part of a programme to boost the species’ numbers in the UK.

Water voles are classed as endangered in Britain, having suffered steep declines since the 1970s due to habitat loss and predation by American mink, originally imported for fur farming.

Hayley Dauben, Forestry England’s species reintroduction officer, said she was confident the valley would offer “excellent habitat” for the animals.

The team has been monitoring Wild Ennerdale for more than two years and does not believe there is a permanent mink population there. However, Dauben said mink occasionally travel into the area, prompting the start of trapping efforts in August 2024.

“Our mink traps are successfully catching mink in the River Ehen, before they enter the valley, while at the same time we have seen no signs of mink above the lake,” she said.

Following the release, the next challenge will be tracking the voles’ movements and ensuring they establish themselves in “water vole-friendly and mink-free habitats”, she added.

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