Protection
Generally, the hedgehog is widely distributed and can be found in good numbers where people are tolerant of their residence in gardens. To date, the IUCN classifies the species as Least Concern and currently the population as Stable. In some areas, they are common victims of road kills and may hunted by dogs, such as in Sardinia. On 28 August 2007, the new Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) included the European hedgehog on the list of species and habitats in the UK that need conservation and greater protection.
In Denmark and Poland, hedgehogs are protected by law. It is illegal to capture or hurt them, but it is accepted to house underweight hedgehogs found out during winter.
A low coverage assembly of the genome of Erinaceus europaeus was released by the Broad Institute in June 2006 as part of the Mammalian Genome Project.
Read more about this topic: European Hedgehog
Famous quotes containing the word protection:
“A man with convictions finds an answer for everything. Convictions are the best form of protection against the living truth.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“No: until I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is endangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an estate at home by peaceful enterprise, I can afford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts, and her right to my property and life. It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The best protection parents can have against the nightmare of a daycare arrangement where someone might hurt their child is to choose a place that encourages parents to drop in at any time and that facilitates communication among parents using the program. If parents are free to drop in and if they exercise this right, it is not likely that adults in that place are behaving in ways that harm children.”
—Gwen Morgan (20th century)