FEB 26, 2018 3:44 AM PST

Hedgehogs On the Decline in Britain?

WRITTEN BY: Anthony Bouchard

With their needle-ridden backs, hedgehogs are easily identifiable. Many consider them to be cute, while some even keep the creatures as pets. Unfortunately, hedgehogs situated in Britain seem to have experienced a steep population decline from 2000 until now – almost by half.

Humans could be making it harder for hedgehogs to find food and shelter in the wild.

Image Credit: Pixabay

A new report made possible from data acquired by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) highlights the significance of the hedgehog decline and cites a few potential driving factors.

So what’s causing all the hedgehogs to disappear? Continued agricultural growth and over-use of pesticides could be to blame. The former destroys the animals’ natural shelter from predators, while the latter kills off vast amounts of their natural prey. Together, these factors create a hostile environment for hedgehogs.

“What is most concerning is that hedgehogs are generalists – they are not particularly fussy in terms of habitat and food,” noted David Wembridge at PTES.

“If that sort of species is declining it is indicative that there are probably problems elsewhere in the environment too in terms of biodiversity and the invertebrate prey species it is eating.”

Related: Dramatic insect decline in Germany alarms researchers

To make matters worse, badgers like to snack on hedgehogs, and their populations are exploding exponentially across the region.

Hedgehogs are particularly resourceful critters; they aren’t about their landscape and finding ways to survive in it. When their typical prey or shelter isn’t available, hedgehogs utilize alternatives, albeit not as effective as their natural counterparts.

It can be alarming to learn that such an adaptable creature is on the decline. It’s enough to make you wonder how these factors will impact far more vulnerable animals as time goes on. Surely, this is a problem that animal conservationists will need to address sooner rather than later.

Source: BBC, The Guardian

About the Author
Other
Fascinated by scientific discoveries and media, Anthony found his way here at LabRoots, where he would be able to dabble in the two. Anthony is a technology junkie that has vast experience in computer systems and automobile mechanics, as opposite as those sound.
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