NEW STUDY SUGGESTS A RELATION BETWEEN HEDGEHOG DIET AND THE ACCUMULATION OF TOXICANTS

Hedgehogs are widely distributed in Europe but they are currently declining. As part of our research team’s investigations on the causes of hedgehogs declines, we analyzed their feces to characterize the role of diet in disease and exposure to toxins.

To identify the prey items in hedgehogs diet in a non-invasive manner, we collected their feces and used a technique called “fecal metabarcoding”. This technique allows to retrieve the DNA of the prey present in the feces, and to identify which species this DNA belongs to using a reference database. As such, we identified over 170 different species in our 193 fecal samples.

Key findings

• Hedgehogs diet is dominated by slugs and snails, but earthworms, beetles, butterflies (larvae) and crickets are also present.

• 29% of hedgehogs consume pet-food provided by humans! This is concerning because this practice of supplemental feeding is associated with negative health risks for hedgehogs, from disrupting their behavior to increasing pathogen transmission.

• The proportion of slugs and snails in the diet is correlated with the concentration of zinc in hedgehogs’ liver. In fact, invasive Spanish slugs were the most common food item eaten by hedgehogs, and this species is known to accumulate toxicants such as zinc!

Future directions

Our work highlights the need to further study the role of gastropods as vectors of environmental contaminants through food webs, and to implement policies to prevent supplemental feeding. Taken together, these results set an important stepping-stone for future research on hedgehogs conservation. 

Want to learn more?

You can read the full scientific study here More information about hedgehog research can be found on our blog and website.