Wildwood Trust: The race is on to save Britain’s cutest mammal from extinction

The race is on to save Britain's cutest mammal from extinction

As the weather gets cold and wet, Wildwood is desperately working to save the lives of rescued dormice. Saving these precious lives will mean we have more animals to reintroduce to help prevent their extinction and we desperately need your help to continue this vital work.

Donate today
https://wildwoodtrust.org/baby-dormouse-rescue

The dormouse is one of Britain's most threatened creatures and scientific reports are confirming the dormouse is heading for extinction with numbers plummeting by 70% in the last 20 years alone. Dormice were once widespread across England and Wales, but with the loss of woodland and hedgerows and the climate change, their population has rapidly declined.

Wildwood's dedicated experts and volunteers have worked for 18 years to create a project that can reverse this extinction, with over 190 dormice released to sites across the UK in places where they have previously become extinct. Research has demonstrated that dormice have thrived and bred after being released into their new woodland homes.

Disaster was averted earlier this year when vital funds for the dormouse conservation project were stolen in an audacious robbery. In a twist of fate security cameras originally bought to monitor dormice, actually caught the thieves red handed and led to an arrest and conviction.

The story quickly became viral with hundreds of thousands of shares on social media and widespread television coverage. This led to hundreds of donations from generous supporters, allowing us to build new facilities to do even more to save the dormice.

Wildwood have already rescued thirteen dormice this year, including six babies, one was found lying in a dustbin, one in a shop and the other had been attacked by a cat! These dormice are now being given every possible chance of survival with the expert help and care of our conservation team.

Another baby was found in a nestbox at a monitoring site with three siblings, we believe the mother must have died as one of the young had already starved to death and the three that were alive, were very underweight and crying for food. Sadly two of those babies didn't make it, but one pulled through against the odds with expert round the clock care.

Donate today
https://wildwoodtrust.org/baby-dormouse-rescue

Hazel Ryan, Wildwood's Senior Conservation Officer said:

"We work tirelessly to protect these animals and are proud that we play such a major role to reintroduce the Hazel Dormouse back to areas where they have become extinct. Wildwood is not only one of the leading dormouse breeders in the UK, but is also an important centre for research into the behaviour and captive husbandry of the species."

But we can't do it alone, you can help us to continue our vital work to save the dormouse by making a donation today. No matter how much you can spare, it really will make a difference!