400 Of The UK’s Largest Spiders Have Been Released Into The Wild

This is a fen raft, the UK’s largest spider – and one of 400 to be released into the wild.

That’s right: a zoo in Kingston upon Thames has encouraged these eight-legged beasts to go forth and multiply – and even won an award for its efforts.

If it’s any consolation to arachnophobes, they weren’t released at once, so don’t fear a cluster of them descending on your garden.

But what might scare you is the fact they can grow large enough to eat fish.

Chessington World of Adventures (CWoA) released the largest of the 660 species that live in the UK over a period of two years.

Why, you might ask. Well, the arachnids are extremely rare in this country, and have been listed as endangered.

Since 2011, however, the zoo has been trying to reverse this decline in population by rearing and releasing them into the open.

Wild numbers have doubled since.

BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, recognised Chessington’s work by honouring them at its annual awards.

Keith Russell, a supervisor within the zoo team at Chessington, said: “The successful work on reintroducing the ren raft species is a great example of the good zoos can do in helping conserve endangered species in the wild.

“Here at Chessington we are very pleased to have received such high praise and recognition from BIAZA for the part we played in this project.”

(Credit: Chessington World of Adventures)