Q & A

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Q: SNH had said that Uist hedgehogs "are not currently exposed to some of the diseases prevalent on the mainland and would have no natural resistance to these"³. Was this true?

A: SNH had provided no evidence to support this claim. Hedgehogs rescued from the Uists were given a thorough health check and, as expected, have been found to have a wide range of naturally occurring conditions including ticks, mange and lungworm. The amount of time that hedgehogs have been on the Uists is not long enough for the evolution of genetic differences to disease susceptibility.

Disease-free hedgehogs are released every year by rehabilitators - including youngsters that have been over-wintered in care. There is no evidence to suggest that they are any more vulnerable to disease than the wild population of hedgehogs and, therefore, there is no evidence that hedgehogs moved from the Uists would be any more vulnerable either.

Q: Hedgehogs are such a common animal; surely they do not need such special treatment? After all, we don’t hear a fuss about mink and rats being killed.

A: Two points here. Firstly, hedgehogs are not as common as you might think. In fact the UK population is showing signs of an alarming decline. Recently published data from the National Hedgehog Survey revealed that in parts of the country there has been a 40-50% reduction in numbers between 1991 and 2001. This is why the new survey, HogWatch is so important (see www.hogwatch.org.uk).

Secondly, rats and mink might have their champions, but the law classes them as vermin, making it illegal to release them following captivity.

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