Sleepy dormice wake up to a rescue move

Heritage of the wild

Four tiny refugees from the Newbury bypass will soon awake from their long hibernation. These dormice had been living in woods on the line of the fiercely resisted new road but they were trapped last year and kept captive for their own safety.

Once the dormice emerge from half a year of slumber they will either be kept in captivity to breed or be released into the wild, returning the species to one of the many woodlands from which it has vanished this century.

There are roughly half a million dormice left in England and Wales, and although this may sound a fair number, this small, golden-brown woodland rodent has suffered a drastic decline.

It seems the dormice are unwilling or unable to cross much more than 100 yards of open country. Consequently, the destruction and fragmentation of much of Britain's broadleaved woods has done them great harm. Once a harsh winter or some other mishap wipes out an isolated wood's population the dormice can never return - unless humans intervene.

The dormice are only active at night, when they climb high into the tree canopy. Their diverse diet of pollen, flowers, fruits, nuts and insects requires a fairly diverse type of woodland, and they are usually found in coppice woods, ancient woodlands and old hedgerows.

Compared to other mouse species found in Britain, the dormouse is a slow breeder and very long-lived (up to five years). Its long hibernation, tree-climbing habits and furry tail also single it out.

Four years ago English Nature, the Government's wildlife conservation arm, began a species recovery programme for the dormice. This involved breeding them in captivity to restock counties where they have disappeared. Who mates with whom is carefully controlled, using a dormouse stud-book to prevent in-breeding.

The year before last, after English Nature trapped seven dormice on the site of the Newbury bypass, two died during hibernation, two have been retained as captive breeders, and three were released into the wild in Nottinghamshire.

Now the species has been placed on a list of 116 rare or fast-declining British plants and animals for which rescue plans have been outlined.

The aim of the proposals, which come from a committee of civil servants, wildlife charities, conservation scientists and landowning interests, is to maintain dormice populations incounties where they are still found and re-establish the species in at least five counties where they have been lost.

The plan makes it clear that road building is a particular threat to dormice because it breaks up their habitat. It calls on forest owners who still have dormice to manage their woods in a way which maintains thedormice.

The maximum annual cost of implementing the plan is put at pounds 60,000 a year.