S3|E3- Protecting the European Hedgehog with Dr. Sophie Lund Rassmusen

The Think Wildlife Podcast

In Episode 3 of this season, I am joined by Dr. Sophie Rassmusen, a Research Fellow at University of Oxford and Linacre College Research Associate at WildCRU. Popularly referred to as Dr. Hedgehog, Sophie is at the forefront of hedgehog conservation and research.

Unfortunately, scientific research from several European countries indicate that the population of European hedgehogs is in decline all over Europe. In fact, the European Hedgehog was recently downgraded to “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List. It is therefore essential to investigate the causes for the decline and enhance the understanding of the challenges hedgehogs face in the wild in order to improve the conservation initiatives directed at this species.

In this episode, we talk about Sophie’s PhD research which encompasses “The Danish Hedgehog Project” with the help of citizen science. We also discuss hedgehog health and the impacts of roads and lawns on hedgehog populations.

The Think Wildlife Podcast is also available on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. Please do consider upgrading to an optional paid subscription on Substack. 30% of the revenue from this episode will be donated to WildCRU for the conservation of hedgehogs!

Meet the Host

Anish Banerjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anish-banerjee-79ba63189/

Think Wildlife Foundation: https://thinkwildlifefoundation.com/

Meet the Guest

Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen: https://www.wildcru.org/members/dr-sophie-lund-rasmussen/

Recommended Wildlife Conservation Books

Wildlife Conservation in India by HS Pabla: https://amzn.to/3Ypx9Zh

Indian Mammals: A Field Guide by Vivek Menon: https://amzn.to/4fhMiCL

At the Feet of Living Things by Aparajita Datta: https://amzn.to/3BZmtsN

Get full access to The Think Wildlife Podcast at anishbanerjee.substack.com/subscribe