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Ellie Harrison visits the native animal park Wildwood, in Kent, to find out more about the UK’s home-grown animals both past and present and how they could feature in our plans for the future. Ellie meets head of the park Peter Smith to learn why beavers are the perfect habitat managers for waterways and helps to survey the park’s 250-strong water vole population. She then helps to feed wild boars in the woods and watches a lynx pounce on its dinner. Next, Ellie enters the wolf enclosure to tryÌýto get a feeling of what life could be like if they were allowed to roam free in Britain again. Then she meets a much less scary predator – a wildcat kitten, hand raised and crazy for the Countryfile soundman’s fluffy microphone!

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Widdale is one of 17 red squirrel conservation reserves in the north of England. These squirrels are threatened by the American grey variety which has taken over their habitats in many parts of the UK. So, great efforts are being made by local people to help the red squirrels thrive and flourish. Julia Bradbury joins the newest group as it sees what can be done to make the reds feel at home. She also gets a lesson from a wildlife photographer. But can she snap more than a blurred tail as the bouncy creatures play in the snow?

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Over the past twenty years Countryfile has followed the Red Kites release project, one of the most ambitious species reintroduction programmes ever undertaken. Grizedale Forest is the setting for the birds’ final release in England. Red Kites were once a rare sight in the countryside but thanks to the hard work of organisations and volunteers the UK population is now at a level that should sustain itself for centuries to come. John Craven meets David Lowe and Iain Yoxall who are preparing the birds for their first taste of freedom.

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Matt Baker explores the vast quarry tunnel system under the coastal village of Beer in Dorset. He meets some of the caves’ current residents – hundreds of Horseshoe Bats – huddled together as they hibernate in the damp and dark spaces left empty when the quarry closed down.

James Wong visits York to find out why one of our native species of beetle is under threat. The Tansy Beetle, once widespread throughout the UK, is on the brink of extinction and now confined to just one small stretch of the River Ouse.Ìý James learns about this precious beetle and meets a group of locals to see what they’re doing to preserve its remaining habitat.

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Julia and Matt have got a challenge on their hands - to find an extremely rare butterfly called the Large Blue. They go searching in a part of the Cotswolds where there have been no reported sightings of this rare creature for around half a century. But there is hope thanks to the Large Blue Recovery Programme.Ìý As usual with Matt and Julia it turns into a bit of competition. Both of them are determined to find the first one – but will either of them actually succeed?

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The European Lynx used to be just as much a part of the British countryside as foxes or rabbits. They disappeared from our island more than a millennium ago, mainly because of hunting and deforestation. Now, as Tom Heap finds out, some conservationists are calling for these big cats to be reintroduced to Britain. They say it would help control deer numbers and restore the natural balance of the countryside.

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Once blackened by discarded and unworkable coal spoil, the beaches of Durham’s coast are now dramatic expanses of clean sand and pebbles perfect for a colony of little terns. Matt finds out how the voluntary warden team at Crimdon Dene nature reserve is helping this important population to prosper.

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