Petition gathers pace to save hedgehogs from extinction
In and finally we return to the plight of our old friend, a veteran of regular comments over the last 12 years of Hinterland – the humble hedgepig! This story tells us:
A wildlife charity seeking to protect native hedeghog populations in decline in the UK is calling for support to afford their nests legal protection.
Hedgehogs are already protected by law, but a petition calling for measures to protect their nesting sites too has received 92,000 signatures to date.
The threshold for a parliamentary debate is 100,000 signatures minimum.
Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Somerset said building housing estates was threatening hedgehog habitats.
Pauline Kidner from the charity said: “When you see the large amounts of housing estates that are going up and all these fences built with cement bases, it means that these animals, wherever they are, lose their foraging [space] and they’re unable to move from one garden to the next.”
She said foraging space and the ability to move about with freedom was “so important” for hedgehogs to be able to survive.
Hedeghog numbers have fallen by up to 50% in rural areas since 2000, according to one report, and they are registered as vulnerable to extinction on the Red List for Britain’s mammals.