The hedgehog now “almost threatened” with extinction

West European hedgehogs are in decline, pushed out of their habitats by urban expansion and mown down on the roads. In the updated red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), published Monday October 28 in Cali (Colombia) during COP16 on biodiversity, theErinaceus europaeus changed category, going from “minor concern” has “near threatened” extinction. Its population has declined in more than half of the countries where it is recorded, mainly in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

The hedgehog “is very close to being “vulnerable” and it is likely that it will fall into this category the next time we evaluate it”alert to Agence France-Presse Sophie Rasmussen, researcher at the wildlife conservation unit at the University of Oxford. According to her, “Humans are hedgehogs’ worst enemies”.

To protect itself from natural predators such as badgers, foxes or owls, the hedgehog curls up into a ball, using the 8,000 quills on its back as repels. But “in front of a car, it’s not a very good strategy”breath M^me Rasmussen. Other threats to the species are pesticides used by the agricultural industry but also in private gardens, and the decline of insects, which make up a large part of its diet.

Water and waste reserves

Hedgehogs generally live two years, although some individuals aged 9 or 12 years have been documented. They can reproduce at the end of their first year with litters of three to five young. “This means that many hedgehogs only breed once, twice if they are lucky, before dying.”just enough “to keep the population up to date”notes the expert.

M^me Rasmussen, whose research was incorporated into the UNIC Red List update, calls on everyone to act, because, according to her, the survival of hedgehogs “will be played in the gardens of the houses”. She invites owners to build “highways for hedgehogs”that is to say a hole in the exterior fence to allow them passage at night, and to deposit a small reserve of water and food waste on their way.

“The best thing you can do is let your garden grow wild to attract everything a hedgehog needs to eat: insects, earthworms, snails and slugs”specifies M^me Rasmussen.