News

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Study could provide help for hedgehogs

University experts are working to track and monitor hedgehogs in Nottinghamshire, in an attempt to better understand their movements and possible causes for recent declines in numbers. The team from Nottingham Trent University’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences are carrying out their study at the university’s Brackenhurst campus near Southwell.

At this time of year, traditional warnings to check bonfires for nesting hedgehogs can save many from an untimely end, but it is thought that a number of factors could be to blame for larger changes in the UK population.

Whilst hedgehog numbers are highest in the east of England, the area also has the greatest reported levels of decline. Various ideas exist about the possible causes of these changes, including increased road traffic casualties, and agricultural intensification. This latest study could help to provide clearer answers.

Senior lecturer Dr Richard Yarnell, along with a team of students at the Brackenhurst campus caught a number of hedgehogs over the summer months, fitting each with a small radio tracking device and marking spines on their backs with reflective tubing to make them easier to spot at night.

Dr Yarnell, said: ‘Our work here on the Brackenhurst campus will hopefully provide valuable insight into the behaviour and activities of rural hedgehog populations. The study will most likely reveal which habitats they prefer such as arable or pasture fields, and assess the potential impact that road casualties have on the hedgehog populations. With that sort of information we will be better equipped to propose strategies with which to halt their decline.’

ENDS

Notes for editors:

With Bonfire night approaching, the team at Nottingham Trent University are urging party organisers to wait to build their bonfires until the day that they light them. This will give fewer hedgehogs the chance of taking up residence inside.

Press enquiries please contact: Matt Wallace, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 8785, or via email: matthew.wallace@ntu.ac.uk; or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk