Hedgehogs have recently been classed as vulnerable, on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List for British Mammals, it is vital that we act in order to save this animal. In order to do our part some students from the University of Suffolk are carrying out a hedgehog-friendly campus project.
This project is a nationwide project run by the British hedgehog preservation society and has three levels, bronze, silver and gold. We are currently working towards the bronze award. Despite the university campus being urban and spread across the town. We are still able to take part in this project as hedgehogs due to increasing urbanisation, are moving into more urban areas such as the university’s campus. In the project the goal is to ensure that the university campus is as hedgehog friendly as possible, which includes connections to the Hedgehog highway, homes and general care such as checking the grounds before strimming.
This project utilises the larger areas of land that university’s normally cover. The project also involves the wider community of Suffolk as anybody can become involved, through simple tasks such as leaving cat food or dog food out for hedgehogs at night along with the water for them. This would be especially helpful in the run up to winter as this allows them to build up their fat reserves for winter. In the colder months, if bonfires and outdoor firepits are used, checking the piles of logs for hedgehogs before the logs are lighted can go a long way to preventing accidents.
Look out for information on the wildlife society social media pages:
https://www.facebook.com/uoswildlife
https://www.facebook.com/HedgehogFriendlyCampus
https://www.instagram.com/uoswildlifesoc
https://www.instagram.com/hogfriendly
For information on the dietary needs of hedgehogs or what to do if you are about a hedgehog visit https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
For more info please email your queries to wildlifesociety.uos@gmail.com
If you'd like to know more about the national campaign, click here to watch the campaign video.
Image by Merry Christmas at Pixabay
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