Hedgehogs may not be problem for birds

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EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Removing hedgehogs from islands in the Scottish Hebrides appears to have had little effect on bird populations, conservationists say.

Scottish National Heritage has spent close to 1 million pounds ($1.73 million) in the past five years on the program, The Scotsman reports. The hedgehogs were killed until last year, when the agency agreed to work with Uist Hedgehog Rescue to move the small spiny mammals elsewhere.

Hedgehogs were introduced to the islands in the 1970s and were thought to be eating the eggs of nesting seabirds.

A new report says that the oystercatcher population has dropped 5 percent on North Uist, where most of the hedgehogs have been killed or moved. On South Uist, the oystercatcher population is up 20 percent and has grown 9 percent on Tiree, where hedgehogs continue to flourish.

On both North and South Uist, the numbers of plovers and dunlins breeding on the island have shown similar declines, suggesting that hedgehogs may not be a major factor.