Science – Frankfurt am Main:We are looking for … the garden dormouse
Directly from the dpa news channel
Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) – One of its special characteristics is the typical “Zorro mask” as a fur pattern around the dark, googly eyes. Otherwise the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) could easily be confused with its relatives dormouse and dormouse, which, like the nocturnal garden dormouse, belong to the dormouse family. The 12 to 17 centimeters large omnivores were originally widespread, from the Portuguese Atlantic coast to the Urals. But conservationists are now sounding the alarm: in the past 30 years alone, the spread of the garden dormouse has fallen by around 50 percent across Europe. A joint project of the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), the Senckenberg Society for Nature Conservation and the Giessen Liebig University aims to trace their existence in Hesse.
The chances that Hessian garden owners will also see or hear a garden dormouse are not bad: In Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia numerous records have been obtained in the past two years, said BUND project manager Susanne Steib. In the Rhine-Main area in particular, there are still comparatively many garden sleepers. In the Harz, in the Fichtelgebirge and in the Bavarian Forest, however, where the garden dormouse was widespread until a few years ago, there is largely no report.
The fear is that a regional extinction can currently be observed here. “There seem to be big differences between the cities,” said Steib. This is also clear in the comparison between the state capital and Frankfurt: While the garden dormouse is well known to the residents of Wiesbaden, it only occurs very selectively in Frankfurt. The reasons are not yet known.
In order to track down the garden dormouse, the conservationists hope for information from the population and have set up an online reporting point. The findings should help to create a protection concept for the little sleeping mice.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210417-99-239412 / 2
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