6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.com

Hello this is 6 minute English from BBC learning English. I'm Phil and I'm Beth. Today we're going to be talking

about an interesting approach to the problem of invasive species. When animals

or plants are introduced to new areas, they can be dangerous for existing wildlife.

Tell me about it. Every time I plant something in my garden, squirrels dig it up. I'm getting really fed up with

them. Have you tried eating them? Sorry what? Eat the squirrels? That's right

one of the simplest ways to deal with invasive species is just to eat them

in this program we'll be hearing about initiatives in the UK and Belize that are trying to get people to improve things using their stomachs.

Okay, but before that I've got a question for you Phil,

Lionfish are aggressive predators which hunt over 50 different

varieties of fish. To help them do this, their stomachs can expand, but by how much? Is it A, 10 times its original size? B, 30 times or C, 50 times.

Wow, those numbers all seem incredibly big.

I mean, it can't be more than 10 times, can it?

Well, I will reveal the answer later in the program.

Before that, let's get back to your squirrel problem.

There's a restaurant in London that offers squirrel kebabs.

They specialize in food made from invasive species.

So if that's not to your taste, you could try Japanese not weed beer.

This invasive plant has caused a lot of problems in the UK, but just why is it so damaging?

Host of BBC World Service Programme, People Fixing the World, Myra Anubi explains.

Japanese knotweed is an extremely invasive plant that arrived in Europe from Japan

over a century ago.

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