The European hamster is critically endangered

Meanwhile across Europe and parts of Russia, this wild hamster is dying out…

Transcript

00:00We can see the speed of the decline of the species and evaluate its extinction in about 30 years.

00:15Given the state of the current populations, it is quite possible.

00:30There is obviously a problem of protection cover that is not there.

00:59For a part of the year, when we have only one crop on several hectares.

01:03But there is also a problem of quality of food.

01:06In the corn we showed in my laboratory that there was a deficiency of vitamin B3,

01:12which led to neurological disorders in females.

01:1690% of females immediately killed their young after giving birth.

01:21This is obviously a disaster for a species that is already declining,

01:27which does not happen thanks to a satisfactory rate of reproduction,

01:31to restart, to expand again and then to respond to a pressure of predation that is there.

01:38Then in the wheat, it is more a protein deficiency

01:41that does not allow females to provide enough food to their young until they die.

01:47It was only protected in France since 1993 and not in other countries.

01:59Its change of status at the IUCN will, we hope, help it to be protected in other countries

02:06and also that conservation measures are financed to study and protect the species in other countries.

02:12It is serious because we consider that the hamster is a parasitic species or a sentinel species.

02:18That is to say that through its protection, we will protect an entire ecosystem,

02:22the entire agricultural ecosystem and the species that live there.

02:25The agricultural practices that we are trying to put in place,

02:29should benefit other species as well.

02:32This is a point for which the big hamster must be protected.

02:38As humans, we must not forget that we are just an element of the biodiversity of ecosystems

02:46and therefore we do not have the right to let a species disappear, whatever it is.