LONG-haired Highland cattle and Exmoor ponies will be introduced to a Forest heathland nature reserve later this summer as part of a conservation grazing project.

They will be joined at Woorgreens Nature Reserve near Cannop by Hebredian sheep in a bid to to enhance the habitat for birds, reptiles, butterflies and the plants and insects that support them.

Based on the site of an open cast mine workings which closed in 1981, the reserve is home to many types of rare and unusual wildlife, but it could be the new grazing animals which prove the main attraction in years to come.

The shaggy looking Highland horned cattle are a frequent sight in Scotland, but a rare spot in the Forest until now.

Six from the Poor’s Park and Allotment at Tidenham are due to be released for a two-month trial, alongside 10 Exmoor ponies from the Edgehills nature reserve just outside Cinderford.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust says the Highland cattle and ponies are used to people and semi-domesticated.

Fencing will keep the animals in the reserve, but gates will allow pedstrians access to the land, off the main B4226 road between Cinderford and Coleford.

For more information, contact Foresters’ Forest on 0300 0674789.