They were once among the most common sights and sounds of the countryside.
But decades of intensive farming, chemical pollution and habitat loss have taken their toll on some of our bestloved wildlife.
From today, the cuckoo, hedgehog and house sparrow join the official 'priority' list of the UK's most threatened animals.
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| Cuckoos are among birds threatened
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According to the Government, more than 1,000 plants and animals are under threat from extinction or serious decline - twice the number on the last major conservation list published a decade ago.
