BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

TRUTH OR FICTION?^

Macaque: Desmond Morris /Universal/Getty; hedgehog: Kevin Sawford/imageBroker/Getty

BYJULY,770,000peoplehadsigneda

petitioncallingfora lawrequiringallnew-

buildhousingtoincludehedgehog-friendly

fenceholes,butdemonstratingthatthey

makea differencehasbeendifficult.

Thetheorybehindthepetition,launched

inOctober 2018 byconservationistHugh

Warwick, is simple. As garden boundaries

fragmentavailablehabitatforhedgehogs,

whichroamlargeareas,theCD-sizedgaps

representa neatsolution.“Anecdotally,I

haveplentyofstoriesabouthedgehogs

usingtheseholes,”saysWarwick.“We

knowit works,butwecan’tyetproveit!”

Theproblem,asProfessorFiona

MathewsoftheMammalSocietypoints

out,isthattherearenopublishedstudies.

Torectifythis,thePeople’sTrustfor

EndangeredSpeciesandBritishHedgehog

PreservationSocietyarehelpingfundnew

researchattheUniversityofReading,led

byDrPhilBaker.Buttocollectthedata,his

teammustrecruitmanyvolunteersandtag

manyhedgehogs,oversuccessiveyears.

Inthemeantime,DrBakerandProf

Mathewsagreethatcreatingthefence

holesisa common-sensestep that won’t

doanyharm.BenHoare

Holes in

fencessave

hedgehogs

WANTTO

COMMENT?Email

wildlifeletters@

immediate.co.uk

Thousandsare

demandingmore

hedgehoghighways

betweengardens,

but do they work?

GETINVOLVED Findoutmoreabout

hedgehogsathedgehogstreet.org and

mammal.org.uk

S

omecoconutwaterandoilhasbeen

removedfromsupermarketshelves

afterit emergedtheproductswere

madeusingfruitpickedbycaptive

pig-tailedmacaques.

A PETA(PeoplefortheEthical

TreatmentofAnimals)Asia

investigationrevealedthatmonkeys

inThailandarebeingkeptchained,

abusivelytrainedandforcedtoclimb

treestopickcoconutsthatareusedto

makecoconutmilk,meat,flour,oil

andotherproducts.

Theanimalrightsgroupdescribes

theprimatesasbeingtreatedlike

“coconut-pickingmachines”andsays

malemonkeysareabletopickupto

1,000coconutsa day.It hasfound

eightfarmswheremacaqueswere

forcedtopickcoconutsforexport

aroundtheworld.

“Thesecurious,highlyintelligent

animalsaredeniedpsychological

stimulation,companionship,freedom

andeverythingelsethatwouldmake

their lives worth living, all so that they

EXPLOITATION

Retailersrespond

quicklytomonkey

labour report

A chainedpig-

tailedmacaque

climbsa treeto

retrieve coconuts.

FINDOUTMORE Brandssoldinthe

UKwithpoliciesonethicallysourcing

coconuts:discoverwildlife.com/coconuts

canbeusedtogathercoconuts,”saysPETA

directorElisaAllen.

Morethan16,000storesaroundthe

worldhavecommittedtoneverstocking

productssourcedfrommonkeylabour.In

theUK,majorretailersincludingWalgreens

BootsAlliance(operatorofBoots)andAsda,

among others, have dropped Thai coconut

brandsfollowingtheexposé,andsome

supermarketshavecommittedtonever

knowinglysellinganyproductssourced

from monkey labour.Jo Price

Britain’shedgehogs

havedeclined97%

since the 1950s.

26 BBC Wildlife August 2020

WILDNEWS