'Good news' as mystery hedgehog illness ruled out

Wildlife experts say there is "good news" after the possibility of a mystery hedgehog illness in Alderney is ruled out.

In November, Kelly Huitson, a registered veterinary nurse with Alderney Animal Welfare Society, said she took care of a "worryingly large number" of very sick hedgehogs.

The charity had asked islanders to help them collect faecal samples for analysis and the data has shown the illnesses had been caused by parasites - rather than a mystery illness.

Ms Huitson said: "This is actually really good news for us because it means we don't have any mystery illness we had been missing."

Through the autumn months an increasing number of hedgehogs had been found with a significant number of ticks along with breathing, neurological, skin and insufficient weight problems.

Ms Huitson said: "As we suspected, everything does point to an incredibly high parasite burden, likely exacerbated by the wet weather, as similar results have been seen in the southern UK around the same time period.

"Now we can adapt our treatment protocols to hopefully care for our wildlife islanders much more effectively," she added.

She said the States veterinary officer, Vale Wildlife Hospital in Gloucestershire and three laboratories in the UK had worked on the data from the samples collected by Alderney residents.

The blonde hedgehogs are only found on Alderney and the Scottish island North Ronaldsay, Ms Huitson said.

The increase in number of parasites prompted Ms Huitson to advise members of the public not to touch hedgehogs "unless absolutely necessary".

If it was necessary they should use disposable gloves or a towel and wash their hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap to prevent cross infections, she said.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].