OLYMPICS/ IOC
Newts and frogs safe as builders work on London Games
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-10 14:42
Nearly 2,000 newts and hundreds of toads have been given new homes as work continues on London's Olympic Park for the 2012 Games, organisers said on Thursday.
Neglected for decades, the Park area is home to a variety of wildlife, some of which is moving to specially-built ponds at the nearby Waterworks Nature Reserve during construction work.
Fish and eels have been relocated from Pudding Mill River on the Olympic Stadium site to another river, while nesting boxes for sandmartins are being set up in the reserve, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said in a statement.
The ODA, which is preparing for Games that are budgeted to cost 9.3 billion pounds ($18.93 billion), has also been carrying out dawn surveys at the park to check for black redstart birds and twilight checks for any roosting bats.
Simon Wightman, biodiversity manager, of the local Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, welcomed the moves, saying: "Populations of reptiles and amphibians... can be very susceptible to disturbance during development."
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