BAPs and Brooms

It has been reported (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/28/conservation ) that there has been a major expansion (to 1149 from the 577 in 1997) of UK Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) aimed at conserving particular endangered species and habitats. It has been suggested that the BAPs have been a great success as more than 100 species (including the Killamey fern and Prickly sedge) have been taken off the 'at risk' list. There have,however, also been some failures e.g. the reintroduced Large copper butterfly has become extinct for the second time here. The recently added species include the House sparrow (a 50% decline in 25 years), the Starling, two species of Seahorse, and the Harvest mouse. One of the species now added is the European hedgehog (Erinaceous europea) that has become endangered by a combination of road fatalities, attacks by dogs, cats and people as well as the use of slug pellets in people's over-tidy gardens (the cold.wet summer should have greatly increased their available prey species including slugs, snails and earthworms). The BBC even carried a 'heart-warming' story (29th August) about two 'orphaned hoglets' at the New Forest Otter and Owl Centre (Ashhurst) who had 'adopted' a broom (used for animal cleaning rooms) as their mother. They slept next to it! I am afraid that this sounds to me a bit Beatrix Potter -perhaps the similarity of the brush and the Hedgehogs is more in the minds of the humans. The 'hoglets' pictured appeared to be at a stage where they would normally be foraging for themselves independently of the mother. These young Hedgehogs were probably just sleeping next to an item whose physical and smell properties appropriate to the rough vegetation in which they make their daytime nests (the evidence that baby Hedgehogs 'imprint' on a mother as do ducklings and goslings is very weak). BAPs should do more for this species than brooms.