Why did the hedgehog become a public enemy in New Zealand? – West-France evening edition

Hedgehog has become undesirable among New Zealanders. The crime of endangering the local ecosystem lies in the shortcuts of small mammals covered by vertebrates.

“They are very destructive predators and insects. We need to get rid of them completely.” Tim Lovegrove, a researcher affiliated with the City Council of Auckland, New Zealand’s main city, did not go all the way to naming the city ‘Number Number: Hedgehog.

As interesting as it is, the small mammal has become undesirable in the country. Auckland City Council has added rats and other rodents to its list of harmful creatures. Authorities are now giving them a year to cross the 2,300-hectare McKenzie bed (country center) full of hedgehogs. Report it Subject , New Zealand News Site. In the end, the New Zealand defenders want to turn this 300,000 hectares of mountainous land into a hedgehog-free zone.

In Europe, the hedgehog has a good image and is considered essential to the ecosystem … How could the situation in New Zealand have gone wrong and this little animal has become undesirable? Besides, you need to know more about this.

“A threat”

“They are a threat because our native animals have not evolved to deal with such native animals. As conditions in dry areas are favorable for hedgehogs, their population may reach higher densities, so this is bad news for insects,” he said. Nick Foster, researcher at the University of Otago (south of the country), In the newspaper Defender . This is because the problem is that small mammals twist with vertebrates: its hunger can affect the balance of the ecosystem in some parts of the country.

The British Daily explains that the hedgehog may become a real one “Killing Machine”. It swallows many lizards and locusts, but also eats the eggs of the endangered bird species Red Plow. “On the South Island, near rivers where breeding breeds, hedgehogs eat 20% of the eggs, if not 70%.”

Introduced by the English

Kiwi, the country’s iconic bird, is also said to be threatened by New Zealand hedgehogs. “We are finding out more and more about the damage they can do,” he said. Nick Foster pursuit. They pluck kiwis food. “ According to experts, there are more hedgehogs in New Zealand now than in the United Kingdom: although the species was introduced by the British colonialists in the Oceanian islands a century ago.

With the exception of a few bats, New Zealand did not originally belong to any mammals. “Its bird population has changed to suit this condition, but some, like the kiwi, do not fly to the ground or build nests,” he said. Councilor Tim Lovecrow recalled.

“I don’t hate hedgehogs, Nick Foster explains. They are interesting, intelligent and attractive creatures யாரும் No one wants to see a hedgehog in pain. “This is why New Zealand scientists insist that the eradication must be done in a targeted and strategic manner, with proper traps and humanity. Still, the days of hedgehogs in New Zealand are numbered.