RELEASED, REHABILITATED HEDGEHOGS - A FOLLOW-UP-STUDY IN JERSEY

Authors
Citation
Pa. Morris, RELEASED, REHABILITATED HEDGEHOGS - A FOLLOW-UP-STUDY IN JERSEY, Animal welfare, 6(4), 1997, pp. 317-327
Citations number
6
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Veterinary Sciences
Journal title
ISSN journal
0962-7286
Volume
6
Issue
4
Year of publication
1997
Pages
317 - 327
Database
ISI
SICI code
0962-7286(1997)6:4<317:RRH-AF>2.0.ZU;2-C
Abstract
Thirteen overwintered juvenile hedgehogs (six male, seven female) were released in an area of farm land and gardens on Jersey, Channel Islan ds. Six (three of each sex) were originally from the same area, the re st came from other parts of the island. They were radio-tracked and mo nitored regularly for 6 weeks to investigate survival and especially w hether 'site-native' animals and those from elsewhere differed in resp ect of their propensity to disperse widely following release. All anim als survived at least 4 weeks and 10 were known to be alive after 6 we eks. The fate of the others is unknown, but there is no reason to beli eve that any of them suffered an early death. Male hedgehogs used new nests more frequently than females. All remained within 400m of the re lease point for at least a month, some were still within 200m 6 weeks post-release. Five hedgehogs dispersed, travelling at least 400m from the release point. Four of these were males, including one recaptured 5.2km away. Dispersal seemed to be more related to sex than origin. Al l animals lost weight initially, but most stabilized after 2-3 weeks; proportionately more weight was lost by larger animals. None was seen to use supplementary food put out for them, despite weight losses, and no aggressive interactions with wild conspecifics were noted. Despite all the animals being naive juveniles, with little or no previous exp erience of life in the wild, none were killed by road traffic. Positiv e conclusions from previous studies concerning the success and welfare implications of releasing hedgehogs after care in captivity are confi rmed.