In spring, a veterinary clinic is expected to open its doors in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. This new medical center will be entirely dedicated to caring for the European hedgehog, whose survival is under threat.
Although listed as a protected species since 1981, the European hedgehog is highly vulnerable to perils that can prove fatal, such as lawnmower or car accidents, pesticide poisoning, pollution, habitat destruction and poaching... The list of dangers is such that an estimated 20% of these adorable spiky creatures lose their lives each year in Europe (or approximately 700,000 hedgehogs).
And the hedgehogs of the Ile-de-France region around Paris are no exception. Now, a rescue center entirely dedicated to their care should be opening this spring, in the heart of the city's Bois de Vincennes woodland. The project is helmed by the Erinaceus France nonprofit, which works for the protection and safeguarding of the European hedgehog. It will be a first in the capital, but not in France, since sanctuaries specially dedicated to these nocturnal mammals already exist in Picardie and in the Sarthe.
With nurseries, operating rooms and intensive care units, this veritable hedgehog hospital will be able to house about 30 injured hedgehogs. These animals will be rescued, treated and then released back into the wild.
The future sanctuary is already built, but the Préfecture de Paris must still give the go-ahead for its opening. "This is the first establishment of its kind in Paris, so it takes time. But we are very confident that we will get the green light. I think it's only a matter of a few months," says the president of Erinaceus France, Manuel de Aguirre, contacted by ETX Daily Up.
The initiative is part of the wider Plan Biodiversité 2018-2024. Launched in March 2018 by the Conseil de Paris, this vast program includes some 30 measures that aim to make the capital and its surroundings greener.
