MY WAY OF THINKING MARK CARWARDINE

The conservationist discusses the tricky problem faced by New Zealand when it comes to the harm caused by non-native hedgehogs.

- MARK CARWARDINE

While we are fighting to save our rapidly dwindling hedgehog population in Britain (down from 30 million in the 1950s to fewer than 1 million today), conservationists in New Zealand are trying to get rid of them.

The difference, of course, is that hedgehogs are native to Britain, but they are ‘accidental tourists’ in New Zealand, shipped out to remind homesick settlers of their gardens back home (it’s an irony that they are now two-a-penny in New Zealand, while most of those gardens back home haven’t seen a hedgehog in years).