Each winter, the Council’s Green Sefton service brings grazing animals onto the Local Nature Reserves to help control vegetation growth.
This, in turn, encourages diverse plant species to grow and Sefton’s rare dune specialists such as Natterjack Toads, Sand Lizards and Northern Tiger Beetles to thrive.
English Longhorn cattle from Lancashire Wildlife Trust have been moved on to the reserve at Ainsdale and Birkdale Local Nature Reserves. The animals will graze the reserves until spring 2024.
There are signs reminding beach visitors of need to keep dogs on leads, to close gates and to be mindful of the cattle and sheep during the grazing period.
They are docile animals that are used to seeing people, but we do suggest that if people do come across the cattle, they should turn and walk another way to avoid disturbing or spooking them.
Visitors should put dogs on a lead to ensure they are under control, just as they would in any farmers field where cows or sheep are present.
Online location system
This season we have an online monitoring system, which helps visitors to the reserves to track the animals’ locations within the enclosures. There is a QR code on the posters at the reserve entrances – people can scan the code to see a map of the reserve that should show where the cattle are.