Hedgehogs

[staceyhallam]

That sounds great. I was looking for funding for fencing etc. but if there are people willing to do that then thats great. I do think we are gettin a bit ahead of ourselves here... government-wise, we need to find out what permits we would need to do something like this. I will see what I can find out on my side. A meeting sounds like a good idea. Who would be interested in being a part of this? We need to find a central location for us to meet. I'm in PE.

[Freek]

We need to have enough faith in what we are prepared to embark on here.

If we realy want to do this and only if we allow our Creator and Saviour to lead us in this projectwe will see positive results. Stace, you can count me in.

I think the most central point for us to meet will be around the Bloemfontein area. This is just my opinion maybe once we have more input from the other interesting parties we might be able to make a more accurate decision. I agree with your views, it is important that we are clear on all legislative andconsirvation requirements. Stace I think your are in a better position to get hold of all this information. If there are any nature conservation people on this site and reading this post who can help with info please make contact with us. My details are on the site:082 878 5208, freek.senekal@dhl.com

[Janjak]

Stace
I got these pics from a friend a few days ago.
This Krimpvarkie is in Mosselbaai.



Jannie

[Freek]

Janjak 

[Ambessa]

Hi guys

I have to change my lingo - I did not know that the foreign langage was so well spoken or actually written in these parts of the continent?

Ambessa

[Ambessa]

Hallo Stace

Good work. Every now and then the guys are really pumped up to get involved when it is for a good cause. Also good to keep it well within current regulations - permits, etc.

Kep us posted on progress.

Regards Ambessa

[WillJak]

Stace, if we pool resources I am sure we can make a plan. I for instance might not have the time to care for them but would be willing to sponsor some food, or fencing etc for someone who has the time, but doesn't have the funds for the food and or fencing and so on.

[staceyhallam]

Hey guys
Thanks for the replies. I have done some phoning and have yielded nothing yet. Will keep trying.
Jannie- That krimpvarkie is not an SA krimpvarkie. I received the same pics and thought it was an Iraq hog that was just so cute people started emailing it. Is it an imported pet? Do you know the person who photographed it?

Thanks for all the interest. Please keep it coming. 
Stace

[Freek]

Hi Stace,

Any luck yet? I'm getting worried when you become so quiet...

[staceyhallam]

Hi everyone

So sorry I have been so quiet. Its really been a nightmare here (computers crashing... technology not working can really cripple you). Anyway, enough about me.

An update... I have spoken to someone and the general opinion is there are all sorts of regulations involving permits for breeding. The main thing being we need evidence that the species really is in collapse. Its not enough for me to say that my opinion is that the species needs a breeding programme. We need census data and that is problem all in itself. However all of you can help... keep a look out when you are hunting at night. If you happen to have trackers etc that are out hunting jackal etc at night, please make them aware of what a hedgehog looks like and if they can write give them a ruler. As I mentioned before, I would like info about what sex it is (if it relaxes and unrolls... the penis is clearly visible. It is rather large (for an animal of its size) and the opening is by its belly button), ball length (longest length of it when it rolls up), weight (if possible), and of course where it is (if the tracker remembers where it was, then you can go back and just get a GPS reading... it would really be appreciated). It is winter now so they are scarce but trackers dogs might sniff one out while its hibernating.

Secondly, the programme will have to be closely monitored for spread of disease to wild populations from captive animals being released (I assume that is the goal? to release offspring into the wild and boost the natural population numbers).

Thirdly, the breeding in itself can have genetic implications, we do not want to create an inbred population so genetic data on all animals in the programme and where they are released is NB. The problem with where they are released is that... everything I have seen of this species suggests that it is NOT Territorial! (except when thay have hoglets and they are hibernating). The problem being... since I beleive they can travel long distances at night, wherever we release them... they could end up on the other side of the country. Which means inbreeding is probably inevitable, we will have to find a way of attaching a GPS tracker to these animals.

However, the person I spoke to is not sure about what we will need to back up the permit application so he is going to get the relevent info for me as soon as possible. So I will keep you in the loop and keep on his back so we get some results. 

Update on the project... Summer data on metabolic rate has been analysed and we saw some very interesting things. I will be presenting this data at the ZSSA conference on the 21st of this month. Then I am off back to my study site... the beautiful Jules of the Karoo... to collect winter data and check on my hogs.  I cannot wait to see them... all very exciting. I know it sounds silly but I have missed them terribly. I think one cannot help getting attached when you spend so much time with certain individuals.

I will post some graphs and give you an update on what we have found in the summer data next.
Stace

[staceyhallam]

In the above table, I have summmarised some of the data. Mb is body mass... as you can see the juveniles we collected were approximately a quarter of the size of the adults.
However, their basal metabolic rate (BMR)* is approximately double that of the adults. This is to be expected because from years of data collected from all different species we can see that as an animal gets larger its BMR gets smaller. So the juveniles should have a higher BMR.
The lowest metabolic rates (MR) recorded were very interesting, because the adults MR dropped lower than we expected for an animal in Summer. It is going to be very interesting to see the winter data. The juveniles MR did not drop as low, and this is simply because they do have a higher MR than the adults, because of their smaller size.
The daily energy expenditure (DEE)*** of the adults is much lower than the juveniles, and this is simply related back to the same concepts as above: the adults having a lower metabolic rate because of their larger size and as a result do not use as much energy.
All the measurements above differ between species and between seasons.



The above graph is MR that we measured over a 24 hour period for the adults. This is a typical pattern we would expect for a nocturnal animal and we were very pleased with how clearly the pattern emerged. Sometimes, when an animal is taken out of its natural environment it can be stressed and this affects the data but the hogs seemed to have no problem with human contact or interference. The black box illustrates the hours of the day that are dark. From the MR we can see that the animals were active starting at dusk and returning to rest during the early hours of the morning (dawn).

Interestingly, the graph below is drastically different...



The above graph is MR that we measured over a 24 hour period for the juveniles. The black box, once again, illustrates the hours of the day that are dark. As you can see there are no clear patterns of rest phase and active phase. I have a theory about this... totally unproven... The juveniles were still breast feeding at this stage, so I beleive the jumbled pattern can be related back to them needing to breast feed frequently. (Please note: during the 24 hour measurements food was not provided). We would need to measure more juveniles to see if this is what we are seeing. It will be very interesting to see the winter data for these same animals, now that they have grown and are no longer breast feeding. They will probably now have a typical pattern of activity... but that remains to be seen.

Well thats all for now, if you would like a detailed description about how we collect the MR data, I would be happy to tell you about the equipment we use and how we go about measuring it. This is the second new post so please have a look at the previous post for updates on other issues.

Stace

Definitions:
* BMR is a measure of the animal's metabolic rate when it is in its rest phase, within its thermoneutral zone** and after it has finished digesting its food.

** Thermoneutral zone is the range of temperatures where the animal's metabolic rate is at its lowest (the temperatures it is most comfortable at). We work this out by exposing the animal to a variety of temperatures and measuring it's metabolic rate and then plotting it on a graph.

*** DEE is a measure of how many Joules of energy they would use per gram, per day. So if we way a new individual and it is an adult, we can simply multiply the weight of the animal by our average DEE value and find out how many Joules of energy that individual animal will use per day.

[Mac]

Hi Stacey,

Please send my best regards to Julian and Martisan when you get there, thanks.

Graham

[staceyhallam]

Hi everyone

I am having no luck with my contacts at the permit office. Do any of you know anyone there? I did speak to a manager at a cheetah breeding centre and they have 2 permits. A captivity permit to keep the animals in captivity and a breeding permit. They are required to keep track of genetics and diseases. Only animals that are healthy can be released. They were only issued a permit after they had set up the centre, because the premises were inspected. I think we should meet and get the ball rolling.

Stace

[Freek]

I agree with you Stace, time is running out. Still no sitings from my side yet...

[Fanie]

Old thread, but I was wondering how the hedgehogs were doing.

We had some pet hedgehogs as kids, they were defenately in abundance back then and they can deffinately eat poisenous creatures like centipedes which are toxic, we used to feed them those.  It was amusing to see how they would grab them and simply crunch one up, and we used to have huge huge centipedes back then.  They drank milk too, probably develops a taste for it.

Just to make some kind of a correlation.  Platanna's are bread by various okes to supply the fishing industry.  The result is that flatties are in abundance.  I've read a discussion on another forum recently where the tree huggers stepped in and tried to prevent the sale of some to a fishing shop and they demanded the immediate release of these flat frogs.  Truth is aparently if the okes weren't breeding them, they would also probably be on the extinction list - as so many other small animals already are.  I also don't like what they are used for, but it defenately keeps the spesies in abundance !

Perhaps a team of breeders in different locations could work together to swap mates so inbreeding does not occur, similar to what is done with most other animals.  Some of the offspring can then be released in suitable areas.  Another option to track them could be some form of a tag, maybe something that sleeves over a quill with information, similar as is done with tagging fish.  This could reveal a lot about their roaming habbits.

[Tarzan]

Why is all the pics deleted or moved and is anything happening with regards to this tread?

[Vaalboer]

Hi

Have seen (photographed) and know of hedgehogs in the south of JHB. I also know that there are hedgehog "crossing" warnings at the JHB country club.

See also post "krimpvarkies"