Nida Al-Fulaij, Grants Manager for PTES, added: “Lucy’s research is really important. In fact, all deaths occurred prior to or after the hibernation period, mainly from predation or vehicle collisions.” “None of the hedgehogs that we monitored died during hibernation, which might be surprising. “Therefore, we radio-tracked 33 hedgehogs from two contrasting rural populations in England – at Hartpury and Nottingham Trent University’s campus near Southwell in Nottinghamshire – to examine patterns of winter nest use, body mass changes and survival during hibernation. ![]() “Despite its potential importance and given the wide range of ways in which human activities could affect this phase, little research has been conducted on the hibernation behaviour of hedgehogs in Britain in the last 40 years. “Hedgehogs have declined markedly in the UK in recent decades and one key stage that could affect their population dynamics is the annual winter hibernation period,” said Lucy, Senior Lecturer in the Animal Department at Hartpury University. Lucy, the lead author of the report, carried out the research with Dr Philip Baker and Dr Luke Evans from the University of Reading, Professor Dawn Scott from Keele University, and Dr Richard Yarnell and Dr Antonio Uzal from Nottingham Trent University, and was funded by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. The new study, which has been published in the Animals online journal, found that hedgehogs living in rural environments appear to be more at risk immediately before and after the winter hibernation period than during the hibernation period itself. Now, a research team led by Hartpury University’s resident hedgehog expert Lucy Bearman-Brown has uncovered fresh evidence about the impact of hibernation and the environment on the survival of rural populations. Studies suggests hedgehogs are in decline across Europe and there could be fewer than one million of them left in the UK. ![]() Everyone enjoys seeing hedgehogs in their garden during those long, warm summer evenings – but have you ever worried about how they manage to get through the cold winter months amid reports of their decline in numbers?
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