Tag: hedgehog

Petition | Protect the UK’s dwindling hedgehog population.

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The population of the UK’s Hedgehogs has fallen by as much as 50% in the last twenty years, and in July this year, a study conducted by the Mammal Society concluded that one of the very few animals that almost anyone in the UK can recognise has declined by so much that it should now be considered Vulnerable to Extinction. Loss of habitat, collisions with vehicles, and roads and fences acting as barriers to the movement of hedgehogs, (which isolate populations and make them more vulnerable to local extirpation), are thought to be the principle factors impacting the species. An epetition has been launched

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Metaldehyde to be banned to protect wildlife

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In a rather rare bit of good news for wildlife, the government has announced its intention to ban the use of metaldehyde outdoors. Metaldehyde is the active ingredient in slug pellets, and is commonly used as a pesticide against slugs, snails, and other gastropods. As well as wiping out slugs and snails, metaldehyde is also toxic to terrestrial mammals and birds, and acute poisoning is common in pets, birds, domestic, and wild animals including hedgehogs. Hedgehog numbers in the UK have fallen by about 50% since the turn of the century, and while research suggests that the amount of metaldehyde a hedgehog would need to consume to be lethal would be very large, there have been cases of dead hedgehogs with very high levels of metaldehyde in their system (presumably consumed via prey items).

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