In total nine field gates, ten padlocks and chains, ten sheep hurdles, and a sheep handling system were stolen. To replace this will cost the charity around £10,000. The Kent Wildlife Trust team were quickly on site, securing all 200 animals, checking on their welfare and putting up temporary gates.

Alison Ruyter, Area Manager at Kent Wildlife Trust said: ‘We are grateful for that early morning call, we got to our animals before they escaped or were injured, it could have been so much worse. This year alone we’ve had to deal with equipment stolen, dog attacks, fly-tipping and threatening behaviour towards staff and volunteers. It’s absolutely unacceptable and causes huge distress to the team, our animals and costs us thousands of pounds, it simply has to stop.’

Kent Wildlife Trust manage over 700 domestic animals across 50 reserves including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and ponies which play a pivotal role in creating wildlife rich habitats and minimising human intervention. Matching the animal to the specific landscape needs, they act in similar ways to larger grazing animals that used to live wild in Kent but are now extinct, such as auroch, elk and steppe bison.

When used as a conservation tool alongside deer and wild boar, these animals have an almost symbiotic relationship with their surroundings. Their natural behaviours such as ‘rootling’ mean that by searching for their food, they eat non-native or invasive plants, open up the soil for seed germination, increase insect populations and improve soil nutrients. All of this benefits biodiversity and helps to create a Wilder Kent.