I’ve written before about the controversy over plans to eradicate hedgehogs from the island of North Uist.
The Scottish Natural Heritage, which is responsible for the island, wants to trap and kill the animals. Animal rights activists decried that decision, saying the hedgehogs could be relocated. But a group given the chance to prove the efficacy of doing precisely that abandoned its plans in February after the costs became too much.
Scottish Natural Heritage agreed to allow People’s Trust for Endangered Species to try a pilot relocation project with 60 hedgehogs. But PTES abandoned that project when costs for doing so ballooned to 2,700 pounds per animal.
PTES complained that Scottish Natural Heritage put up unreasonable requirements that caused the costs to increase. Specifically, SNH wanted PTES to study the effects that relocating the hedgehogs had on wildlife in the areas where they were relocated to. In a letter to SNH, PTES chief Valerie Keeble wrote,
SNH’s insistence on studying any possible effects of the translocated hedgehogs on animals resident in release areas has quadrupled the budget to £ 160,000. A sum of this size is quite impossible for a charity to find or raise in such a short period of time.
Given that it was at your insistence that the translocation plans had to be so greatly expanded, we do not think it unreasonable to have expected SNH to at least contribute towards the cost. SNH’s intransigence in refusing to provide some financial backing is particularly disappointing as, in spite of the difficulties, we had secured at least half the monies required, a considerable achievement in such a short period.
The remaining sum we needed to be able to implement the revised plan is small in comparison with the large sums allocated for the annual removal of the hedgehogs from the islands.
SNH spokesman George Anderson told the The Herald (Glasgow) that the organization had serious concerns about the effects that hedgehogs would have on the mainland,
SNH believes there are significant animal welfare problems associated with moving hedgehogs to the mainland, both for the Uist animals and mainland hedgehogs. We have, however, always remained open to being proved wrong on this.
The offer of 60 animals for a trial translocation was made in this spirit. We are disappointed there is to be no trial, but the SNH board was adamant it would not fund the exercise. We will now be continuing with our plans to cull hedgehogs on North Uist and Benbecula this coming spring.
The Herald notes that PTES has annual income of about 1 million pounds a year.
Sources:
£ 160,000 spikes hedgehog rescue;Charity abandons project. David Ross, The Herald (Glasgow), February 3, 2004.
Hedgehog Relocation Plans Shelved. Andrew Black, Scottish Press Association, February 3, 2004.