Southchurch Terrapin Watch

How did terrapins end up here?

Almost every terrapin in a British park pond began life as somebody's pet. Many were bought small in the 1990s, grew larger than expected, and were released into local ponds by owners who believed they were doing a kind thing.

The terrapins themselves are survivors, not villains. But they are efficient predators in a pond that never evolved alongside them — taking ducklings, fish, amphibians and invertebrates — and a warming climate means they may one day breed here.

Before anyone can make good decisions about the lake, we need to know the basics: how many terrapins are there, where do they bask, and is the population growing? That's where you come in.

Why counting works

A single count tells us very little — terrapins bask more on sunny days and vanish in cold weather. But hundreds of one-minute counts, spread across seasons and weather, build a statistical picture that a lone ecologist visiting twice a year never could.

Every count is recorded with its time, location, weather and duration, which lets scientists correct for the conditions and see the real trend underneath. Counting zero terrapins is just as valuable as counting ten — please tell us either way.