Waning hedgehogs now have their own protector
On the eastern coast of Britain sits a place called Ipswich, which is well-known for being the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited town. Now it has another claim to fame: Home of the United Kingdom’s first Hedgehog Officer.
Britain has a declining population of hedgehogs, wee critters whose button noses, ombre quills, industriousness and taste for snails have made them a favourite of Britons, particularly gardeners. And Ipswich, it seems, is a ‘‘hedgehog hotspot’’.
That’s according to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, which last month posted a job advertisement for a fulltime officer. The Ipswich Hedgehog Officer, the trust said, would need to be an ‘‘inspirational individual who will be the face of hedgehog conservation’’.
The successful candidate was to have experience not just in wildlife conservation but also a demonstrated understanding of hedgehog ecology – a requirement that, it is probably safe to assume, must have eliminated most hopefuls.
The delightfully unusual posting won international headlines, as well as about 150 applications from people in the United States, China, Germany, Spain and France. Just four were interviewed, all from the UK.
And now there is a winner: Alexandra North, 25, a researcher at a Cambridge organisation called BirdLife International will shift to hedgehogs next month and earn about NZ$43,000 a year.
Her duties will include monitoring the prickly fellows, raising awareness about them and motivating people to remove some manmade barriers in support of a network of hedgehog habitat.
‘‘I really hope I can engage with people and encourage everyone to see how making small changes really can make a difference to these little creatures.’’