Zimbabwe Seven

Introducing our Southern African hedgehogs

Category: Southern African hedgehog | Date: Feb 27 2008 | By: admin

Dear Readers,
Our supporters have been introduced to our serval breeding and release program. In due course we will introduce the African wild cat program to you. But today we would like to talk about a much lesser known species who due to the decline of habitat, being killed by domestic pets as well as being used in traditional medicine, the Southern African hedgehog is in an endangered state. It surprises most people to think that Africa has its very own hedgehog. The African variety is smaller, more compact and can be found in semi-arid regions within Africa. Currently to date, there is no clear population census on hedgehogs in Zimbabwe. Once again, the lesser species have been fairly ignored.
The Tikki Hywood Trust is a rescue centre for this species as well as a breeding and release centre. With the onset of the rainy season here in Zimbabwe the number of orphaned and injured hedgehogs has increased, as people find them in gardens or they are injured by domestic pets or being sold on the side of the roads.
February 2008 has seen the Trust receiving 16 hedgehogs. Unfortunately 9 mortalities have occurred due to the injuries which these hedgehogs have sustained. The remaining 7 seem to be content, healthy and flourishing hedgehogs with individual characters.
The hedgehogs are named after Beatrix Potter characters, so we have:
Tommy - one of the first to arrive, he also goes by the name “Tommy Toe-biter”.
Moley Warp - a younger male who is growing daily, he has grown into a dashing young hedgehog and we have high hopes of him charming the females.
Benjamin - the youngest of the males, is still quite nervous and very prickly.
Miss Tiggy - the first female to arrive, she had a bald spot on her back between her hips which was caused by ringworm. Incidentally, African hedgehogs suffer badly with ringworm and often die from a heavy infection. Thankfully her spines have grown back after treatment with tea tree oil in vaseline for several days. Ring worm causes the hedgehogs to lose all their spines, once this happens the hedgehog becomes bald and is prey for many other animals.
Jemima - this little hedgehog has a bit of a sad story - when she arrived at the Trust she had given birth to a single little hoglet who very sadly had not survived the journey from Bulawayo to Harare. In our experience when a mother hedgehog is disturbed in anyway, the offspring will either or be eaten or abandoned. When babies are born here at the Trust, we do not touch the mother or her young or even the house where she has given birth. For the first week that Jemima was with us, it was touch and go. She would not eat and seemed to be in a very depressed state. She also had severe spine loss on her back, which exposed a large scar - probably an old dog bite. With a lot of tender loving care and encouragement, Jemima is now back on track and picking up weight and has introduced herself to the eligible males.
Puddle & Beatrix - the two youngest females only recently acquired are both less than a year old.

Southern African hedgehog - Atelerix frontalis

Category: Southern African hedgehog | Date: Jan 18 2008 | By: admin

The main predator of the hedgehog is man, being used as food and for their perceived medicinal purposes in traditional medicine. Hedgehogs are also killed on roads. As well as this, the loss of habitat and agricultural expansion are both detrimental to the hedgehog’s survival.

Hedgehogs have small spines which cover their body. A spine is thick, stiff hair similar to that of a rhino’s horn. The under body, together with the legs are covered with coarse hair. The males are smaller than the females, weighing between 240 - 480 grams only. When threatened, the hedgehog can roll up into a spiney ball by contracting a circular muscle which acts as a purse string.