Woodland scheme to save dormouse

Rare hazel dormice have been released in an undisclosed woodland location in Warwickshire in an effort to stem a severe decline in numbers.

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, set free 19 breeding pairs of the creature, after the population plummeted by more than 70 per cent in the last 20 years.

The decline is thought to be due to the loss of woodland and hedgerow habitat, as well as changes to traditional countryside management practices. As a result, hazel dormice have become extinct from 17 English counties since the end of the 19th century.

Dormouse reintroductions are part of Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, with this reintroduction following an earlier release at Windmill Naps in Warks in 2009, where 46 hazel dormice were returned to the wood.

Samantha Herbert