Report from Chris Smith
Decision due on hedgehog cull
From BBC Scotland News, 11 th December 2002
Scientists are recommending the go-ahead for a humane cull of
hedgehogs who are being blamed for the death of birds in the Western
Isles.
The move is aimed at saving the declining population of rare breeding
waders on North Uist, South Uist and Benbecula.
The hedgehogs have been found to be responsible for a significant
decline in the breeding of waders because they eat the birds' eggs.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which will consider the proposal next
week, has received more than 1000 letters of protest, the majority of
which have come from England.
It has emerged that only two objections came from the Western Isles.
The extermination was proposed
five months ago, but after a public
outcry the conservation agency
ordered a stay of execution while it
looked into the feasibility of
moving hedgehogs off the
islands.
A report commissioned by SNH
stated: "Lethal control would lead
to the death of all captured
hedgehogs but levels of suffering
per death would be lower than
indirect mortality caused by
translocation or indefinite
captivity."
SNH is now to consider three
options put forward by its
Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), which could see a total cull
avoided.
The SAC has recommended a "humane lethal control of the hedgehog
population should be adopted" after finding fencing, relocation and
sterilisation not to be viable.
The proposal would reduce the number of hedgehogs to a level that
allows the wader population to fully recover.
However the two other options are based on a cull in North Uist to
contain the problem, while animals are moved from South Uist to the
mainland.
Population study
A study published in the scientific Journal of Applied Ecology
suggested that hedgehogs were having a devastating impact on
seabirds in the Outer Hebrides.
An experiment carried out on South Uist found that wading birds like
the dunlin, lapwing, redshank and snipe had a better chance of
breeding successfully if hedgehogs were excluded from certain areas.
Various methods of managing the hedgehog population have been
considered by SNH.
These included sterilisation and contraception, or capturing the animals
and moving them to the mainland.
© BBC Scotland News, 11 th December 2002
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