According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the number of Western European hedgehogs is declining sharply. For this reason, it has classified the snowbird as “potentially endangered” for the first time on the Red List of Threatened Species.
The problem is humans, says the IUCN: “In particular, the destruction of rural habitats through agricultural intensification, roads and urban development is leading to a decline in the Western European hedgehog,” it says. The hedgehogs need to be better protected.
The number dropped by as much as 50 percent
The Western European hedgehog is found in Austria and Germany, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Great Britain. Over the past decade, this number is estimated to have fallen by 16 to 33 percent, depending on the country.
In Flanders, Belgium and Bavaria there was a decline of 50 percent. There is no reliable information about the total number of hedgehogs. Hedgehogs usually only have offspring once a year.
The Red List has existed since 1964
‘Near Threatened’ is level two of the seven levels the IUCN uses to assess vulnerability. The scale ranges from ‘not endangered’ to ‘extinct’. The Red List has existed since 1964. It now includes more than 166,000 animal and plant species, of which more than 46,000 are endangered.
Source: Krone
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