Species spotters battle it out to become first to 10,000

(Telegraph): Britain’s naturalists are engaged in a race to see who will become the first to “spot” 10,000 species in the wild. It is a race which can only have one winner: who will be the first man to “spot” 10,000 of Britain’s species of wildlife? In the green corner is Jonty Denton, who has “spotted” 9,947 wild species – including 2,573 beetles, two of which had never before been seen in Britain. And in the other green corner is David Gibbs, who is rapidly catching up with 9,444 species, after recent fieldtrips added dozens of mosses and liverworts to his total. The pair are currently locked in battle to see who will be the first to break through the 10,000 mark. Everywhere either goes, he takes logbooks, test tubes and a magnifying glass.

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