Hedgehog Conservation at Derby College

Hedgehog Conservation at Derby College

The Animal Care team at Derby College’s Broomfield Hall are holding two short courses to help local people care for hedgehogs in their gardens this Spring.

On Saturday March 18 between 9.30am and 11.30am children and young people aged 16 and under are invited to a ‘Hug a Hedgehog’ session where they can meet Broomfield’s resident hedgehogs and learn more about the animals from suitable feeding to making a garden more hedgehog friendly.

Then, between 12.30pm and 4.30pm on March 18, the team will welcome adults (18 and above) for the British Wildlife emergency first aid course – practising handling, health check and feeding skills and learning more about legislation and conservation relating to many British wildlife species.

The courses is being run by zoologist Abby Bruce who was a veterinary nurse specialising in British wildlife conservation before joining Derby College as an Animal Care lecturer.

She said: “Nationally, the hedgehog population is in decline so it is important that people have awareness of how to look after these animals if they come into the garden, what to feed them on, signs of ill-health and what they should do if there is a problem.

“We are currently looking after several hedgehogs who were too small and underweight to survive the winter hibernation and this is the ideal opportunity to learn more about them and our plans to release them into the wild as soon as the weather improves.”

For more information and to book a course, please visit www.derby-college.ac.uk or telephone 0800 028 0289.

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