Poor ickle hedgehogs!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6965681.stm



Hedgehogs join 'protection' list

Tidier gardens and urbanisation are blamed for hedgehogs' decline

Hedgehogs and house sparrows have been included on an updated list of species and habitats which need protection.

The new Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has identified 1,149 species and 65 habitats in the UK as being in need of conservation and greater protection.

When the action plan was launched in 1997, it listed 577 species - half the number included in the updated version.

Wildlife experts said this was a result of wider research and not necessarily down to more habitat being destroyed.

Other animals added to the list for the first time include the grass snake and the garden tiger moth; while otters, bottlenose dolphins and red squirrels are deemed to remain in need of habitat protection.

BAP PRIORITY SPECIES
Birds - 59 species
Fish (freshwater) - 14 species
Reptiles/amphibians (herptiles) - 10 species
Lower plants and fungi - 337 species
Marine fauna and flora - 88 species
Invertebrates - 411 species
Terrestrial mammals - 18 species
Vascular plants - 212 species

(Source: UK Biodiversity Action Plan 2007)


'Tidy gardens' are hog threat



But the latest BAP shows that a number of species have benefited from being featured on the original list 10 years ago. The numbers of ladybird spiders and lady's slipper orchids are at a 50-year high.

The BAP is considered to be one of the most authoritative reference sources for the state of the UK's wildlife.

The result of more than two years of research by more than 500 wildlife experts and a large number of volunteers, it brings together key scientific data on all the listed species in one document.

As well as outlining the state of British species, it also contributes to global conservation commitments, outlined in the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Biodiversity Minister Joan Ruddock said the updated action plan would help shape the government's conservation policy.

"Conserving biodiversity is essential if we are to pass on a healthy environment to the next generation," Ms Ruddock said.

"The new list will help us target our resources and efforts where they are needed, and demonstrates our commitment to publish new priorities, targets and plans for halting biodiversity loss by 2010." 'Cause for alarm' The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said that as well as the house sparrow, the starling was another familiar garden bird to feature on the BAP list of 59 bird species.





"The fact that the bird list now includes more than a fifth of all the UK's regularly occurring birds is a cause for alarm, " said Mark Avery, the RSPB's conservation director.

"We will have to act fast if we are to meet obligations of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010."

But Dr Avery added that the BAP had focused efforts on stemming the decline in a number of vulnerable species.

"To its credit, we have seen dramatic increases in key species, like bittern, stone-curlew, corncrake, nightjar, cirl bunting and woodlark."

A separate study, also published on Tuesday, also highlighted the decline in the UK's hedgehog population.

The study by the University of London for the People's Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society listed tidier gardens and urbanisation as key factors affecting the fall in the number of the small mammals.

Nigel Bourne, chairman of the Wildlife and Countryside Link's biodiversity working group, welcomed the updated list and called it a "major boost".

"The list will focus efforts on the real, shared conservation priorities in the UK.

"The conservation charities that make up Link... look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the government," Dr Bourne added. "Together we can turn the list into targeted action to deliver the conservation of our very special habitats and species."

 

Mind you... I've seen about 4 or 5 hedgehogs in the last week!

 

Me too - unfortunately, mostly as roadkill

 

I've seen none as roadkill this year *touches wood*.
One even came and said hello during our midnight BBQ last week!

 

Sadly I've seen more dead Hedgehogs than live ones this year. But there's still been a few kicking about. I see lots of rabbits and mice on my late night walks from work too.

And check this, I saw a fox a couple of weeks ago! Chasing one of the aforementioned rabbits mind you! But that's life

 

I have seen a hedghog get stuck on sacks left out the back. They have sharp claws and they get stuck. i tried to lift it off, it rolled into a ball. Spikes were like miniture weapons. The face looked like a womble.

 

I saw my first hedgehog last week! It was stuck in a girl i'd met's fence found some pliers and got him out though but i think he may have died already, he hadn't moved a few hours later, i dunno we were plastered.

 

I used to knwo this girl and we went and chased hedgehogs on her back garden, which was really a park.

 

>.> I've never even seen a wild hedge hog, only in the pet stores!

 

Didn't know you could buy them as pets!

 

Really? Wow, things must be completely opposite. My friend had one as a pet awhile ago, it was really cool.

 

they're so cute. in my back yard we have red foxes, skunks (that are odly odorless), squirrels, a racoon that hangs out on my back porch, resident ducks, geese, and a horned owl that watches them all from the neighbors roof. my cats just chill out with all of them, even the skunks, which were just babies a little while ago. except the owl. i have to watch the owl. our neighbor has this gigantic desert tortoise that is just the coolest thing. affectionate tortoise. and there's a few small rabbits. no mice though, my cats take care of those. i guess the foxes do, too.

 

KC your avatar makes me laugh.

 

I Have Not Seen a Hedgehog in YEARS...

That Could be because of Where I Live...

It's very Urban...

In Wales...Several Years Ago...

me and my Brother went for a Wander in the Countryside...

We were in a Caravan...At a Caravan Park...

We Found Ruins of an Old Stone House...And I Heard Stones moving...

And a Little Headgehog Popped Out...

Wish I Had a Camera...

I Love the Remote Countrysideness of Wales...

Great memories...

 

That is fucking evil.

Shame they're not covered in ticks, like over here, so that people wouldn't want to keep them as pets.

 

The Ones I Have Seen in Pet Shops...Are Not UK Hedgehogs...

 

My sister's favourite animal are hedgehogs. She had the most amazing chocolate hedgehog cake for her birthday one year. I was well jealous!

 

It's funny...All the rabbits and hedgehogs I see are in and around an industrial estate. Just warehouses, factories and roads. There is a wildfowl park in the vacinity which I guess could account for some of the birds and insects. But it's really weird seeing the bigger critters in such a space.

It'll probably be only a matter of time before more factories appear and what little space the animals have will vanish. But for now, it's quite a treat

 

I find the whole concept of hedgehogs fascinating

 

are they like mini porcupines?