Hi Jan-Marie
Re. your last paragraph, I think that is one of the sorts of things this information is trying to prevent.
The trouble is there is all sorts of pseudo-science out there, about it being good for the gene pool, etc. for hogs to be released in areas other than where they came from. But it seems to me some of the things that are happening is counter-productive and such a shame when so much work has gone into helping the hogs reach a stage where they are fit for release.
I’m not sure how much more BHPS can do (apart from anything else, there is always so much needed to be done and so few resources). They’ve produced some authoritative advice and people need to take notice of it. And some of those involved in creating the advice [The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC), The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Vale Wildlife Hospital (VWH) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)] are involved in rehabilitation themselves. But if you know which organisations are involved in these mass releases, maybe they could be contacted if the BHPS knew (that is if they don’t already know) – I have no way of knowing if that is something that is possible.
And I will probably never know whether the population of hogs here went down so much last year because some had been released in this area. A population which had been stable for many years.
There may be a small number of cases where hogs cannot be released where they came from, but the majority I think could, with a little care, be released if not exactly where they came from but nearby enough that they recognised the terrain. Most hog lovers would be quite happy, I would have thought, to make a contribution so that they could be telephoned when the hog was ready for release. All it takes is having a system in place. To my mind, these sorts of systems should be in place anyway – even more so in larger rescue centres, etc.
I just think the whole situation is so sad – for the hogs. But also such a waste of ‘helpers’ time.
