New Zealand Mammals

DSC_3176 European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) male eating quail eggs on riverbank. This seemingly innocuous introduced 'insectivore' poses the greatest predation risk to native species in places like the Mackenzie Basin where more than 50% of all nests of ground-nesting birds - stilts, dotterels, black-billed gulls, black-fronted terns and pipits - are being lost to hedgehog predation. In addition, they target native reptiles such as skinks and invertebrates such as beetles, grasshoppers and weta. Shotover River, Queenstown *

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DSC_3176 European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) male eating quail eggs on riverbank. This seemingly innocuous introduced 'insectivore' poses the greatest predation risk to native species in places like the Mackenzie Basin where more than 50% of all nests of ground-nesting birds - stilts, dotterels, black-billed gulls, black-fronted terns and pipits - are being lost to hedgehog predation. In addition, they target native reptiles such as skinks and invertebrates such as beetles, grasshoppers and weta. Shotover River, Queenstown *

DSC 3176 Hedgehog Male foraging quail nest eggs ground nesting birds New Zealand mammals Erinaceus europaeus feral pest mammalian mammal introduced predator