A major new conservation effort has received nearly £100,000 to remove non-native hedgehogs from islands in the Western Isles, aiming to protect vulnerable ground-nesting bird species. The Saving Uist Nature (SUN) project will focus on trapping hedgehogs in South Uist and Benbecula and relocating them to mainland Scotland, where they will be health-checked and tagged before release.

Hedgehogs are not native to the Hebrides and have been blamed for the dramatic decline of several bird species by eating their eggs. A previous initiative, the Uist Wader Project (UWP), succeeded in keeping North Uist free of hedgehogs, but funding shortages halted efforts on South Uist and Benbecula.

SUN is led by RSPB Scotland in partnership with NatureScot and the Scottish SPCA. The Scottish government has awarded the project £97,840 through its Nature Restoration Fund to support development over the next year.

According to RSPB Scotland, SUN will be the first project of its kind attempted at this scale.

Kenna Chisholm, its north Highland and Hebrides area manager, added: “Taking action is critical to protect remarkable wildlife here in Uist and ensure the best possible outcomes for the hedgehogs which will be relocated and the mainland population.”

Iain Macleod of NatureScot called the initiative “ground-breaking.”

Scottish SPCA wildlife operations lead Sean Meechan added “As a non-native invasive species to Uist, hedgehogs have a detrimental impact on the important breeding populations of ground-nesting birds on the island.

“This project provides a unique opportunity to reduce that impact while also working to preserve populations of hedgehogs as a threatened species.”

Hedgehogs were first introduced to South Uist about 50 years ago to control garden pests like slugs, but their population quickly spread. By 1995, they were common across South Uist and Benbecula, thriving due to a lack of predators and quiet roads. By 2015, the population was estimated at 5,000.

The ecological impact has been severe. The Western Isles are home to internationally important populations of ground-nesting birds such as lapwing, curlew, dunlin, and redshank. Many of these species are already of high conservation concern. Research by NatureScot between 2012 and 2014 found that in areas with high hedgehog densities, such as South Uist, 55% of monitored bird nests had failed.

Efforts to cull hedgehogs in the early 2000s were abandoned after public backlash, leading to the successful trap-and-relocate strategy now being expanded under the SUN project.

 

 

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