Whilst certainly in danger on the mainland, in no way had the species died out. Especially if you mean the UK and not just southern England. They do massively need help and protection though, so this is great news.
Yeah its an odd mistake for the BBC. I mean sure someone not interested in wildlife from the south may well think it. But a simple google search will show they are just endangered. But with the BBC you expect some minimum checking of facts before publishing.
Seems quality journalism has been died out on the bbc after grey click baiters were introduced.
There was some misinformation that spread around on Twitter about "white tail deer" being endangered in the US because the population declined.
It was down to 30 million after they started starving from overpopulation.
I saw a report on the news about it about ten minutes after they announced hunting limits would be raised in my state, in the same broadcast.
There's a lot to say about what the population should be and shrinking habitats and such but they literally could have walked into a Bass Pro Shop and asked around to fact check that one.