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A study indicates that the number of hedgehogs has been steadily decreasing for several years. The species is even threatened with extinction in Europe. The France Télévisions teams visited the wildlife protection center in Normandy, which initiated the study.
Since the start of the year, the accommodation and study center on nature and the environment in Normandy has welcomed 700 sick or injured hedgehogs, three times more than in 2015. “We are confronted with more and more animals which are supposed to be well, adults who arrive dehydrated, in diarrhea. When we have such a large arrival of animals in the rescue centers, we can assume that one day there will be no more these animals “, comments Laure Prevost, from the accommodation and studies center on nature and the environment.
Adult mortality also leaves many baby hedgehogs orphaned. The center is therefore carrying out a scientific study: if an adult dies within 48 hours of his arrival, he is autopsied, and the samples are sent to a laboratory in Rouen (Seine-Maritime). 80 hedgehogs were studied. The general condition of the animals is greatly degraded. “The vast majority are respiratory diseases and digestive diseases, (…) and this is probably to be compared to environmental factors”, explains Claire Le Moal, veterinarian and head of the study on the causes of hedgehog mortality. In particular, agricultural pesticides would have considerably weakened the immune system of hedgehogs.