Plans for HS2 might have hit a prickly problem due to central London’s last remaining population of hedgehogs.
The group of hedgehogs currently nest in the shrubbery of London Zoo’s car park, however, the site has been earmarked under HS2 plans as a future lorry park.
Experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have come out in defence of the spiky mammals stating that should the plans go ahead, the hedgehogs would be left in a “very vulnerable position”.
The ZSL will appeal to a House of Lords Select Committee next week to request that HS2 find an alternative location for its HGV and construction vehicles, so as not to cause irreversible damage to the declining British species.
Early findings suggest the group living in the zoo car park are faring better than their counterparts in the main area of Regent’s Park, although more work is needed to find out why, the experts said.
Professor David Field, zoological director of ZSL, said: “It may seem strange that we’re seeking protection for a car park, but this is an example of the increasingly desperate reality for urban wildlife.
“Forced by human pressures to find sanctuary in the unlikeliest of places, it is our duty to protect the remaining refuges of these creatures.
“While HS2 have admitted that their proposed use of the car park as a lorry-holding site will pose a risk to the hedgehogs, they have not accepted our advice that no mitigation measures will be enough to protect them from that risk.”
For those that wish to join the fight for the hedgehogs, they can tweet @zsllondonzoo using #TeamHedgehog.
Image: Domonkos Selmeczy/Dreamstime.com
