Report from Chris Smith
Hedgehog find worth £20
By Jeremy Watson in the Scotsman, 7 th March 2004
HEDGEHOG hunters are to be offered an increased bounty of £20 per head
to catch the spiky animals in advance of a government-backed cull on
the Western Isles.
Scottish Natural Heritage, the government's countryside agency, will
next month send official teams to North Uist and Benbecula as part of
a three-year programme to eradicate thousands of hedgehogs threatening
wild bird populations.
But animal welfare campaigners determined to save the hedgehogs before
they are slaughtered have increased the financial incentive to local
residents prepared to take part in a rescue operation.
Last year, the welfare groups offered £5 for each hedgehog and half of
the 156 animals rescued for transportation and relocation on the
mainland were caught by locals. This year, with SNH planning to cover
a much bigger area and cull more hedgehogs, the bounty has been
increased to £20.
Ross Minnett, the head of Advocates for Animals, said: "We thought we
did well last year but we are increasing the money available because
we want to get more local people involved.
"It is cheaper for the taxpayer than killing them. SNH spent more than
£100,000 last year killing just 66 animals. It is now going to spend
hundreds of thousands more, but unless they eradicate every hedgehog
then they will be facing the same problem all over again in a few years."
Hedgehogs were artificially introduced to the islands to eat garden
slugs but their numbers have now proliferated out of control. SNH
ordered the cull because the animals eat the eggs of the
internationally-important colonies of seabirds which live on the coast
of the Western Isles.
It hopes that a three-year eradication programme will drastically
reduce numbers and allow the seabird colonies to flourish.
Islanders said the £20-per-head price of a hedgehog would be a
powerful incentive.
North Uist community councillor Norman Johnson said: "Some people were
talking about breeding hedgehogs just to get the money, but I am sure
it was just tongue-in-cheek."
© The Scotsman, 7 th March 2004
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