Hedgehogs (Hansard, 22 October 2002)

§ Mr. Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had about the hedgehog population in England. [75077]

§ Mr. Morley
The Department regularly receives representations on a wide range of species issues including hedgehogs.

§ Mr. Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence she has that the hedgehog population has declined disproportionately in certain regions of England. [75078]

§ Mr. Morley
The Government's scientific advisers, English Nature, consider that the hedgehog is under no conservation threat. The UK's total pre-breeding population stands at about 1,555,000; 1,100,000 in England, 310,000 in Scotland and 145,000 in Wales. English Nature is aware of a study into numbers of hedgehogs killed on roads by cars but advises that, as the study is not yet completed, it is too early to draw conclusions at this stage.
The Department has let a research contract to design and pilot a multi-species terrestrial mammal monitoring project. This is due to conclude in November 2003.
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§ Mr. Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence she has collated on a correlation between the growth of the badger population and a fall in hedgehog population in certain regions. [75081]

§ Mr. Morley
At present there is no comprehensive, standardised national monitoring of British mammals that embraces the full range of important species. Whilst a range of organisations undertake monitoring, not all mammals are included, surveys are often sporadic and the results distributed to only a limited extent.
DEFRA therefore let a GB wide research contract entitled "Design and pilot a multi-species terrestrial mammal monitoring project" in June 2001, to the British Trust for Ornithology and the Mammal Society. The overall aim will be to design and pilot, using a volunteer network, a winter monitoring project involving both visual recording of mammals and the recording of their signs. This is intended to form a building block for an integrated mammal-monitoring system.
The work will include an analysis of the results, including aspects such as accuracy, repeatability and the utility of the results, for monitoring mammal abundance and distribution and for the potential to assess long-term trends. The pilot scheme concludes in November 2003.
As yet no population comparisons have been undertaken of species such as hedgehog and badger.