France Told to Save the Great Hamster of Alsace

Western Europe's last remaining species of hamster in the wild is in danger of becoming extinct. The Great Hamster of Alsace is front and center in Europe's highest court. France has been warned that it needs to do more to protect this animal or face fines exceeding $25 million.

This hamster has been a protected species since 1993 and is one of the most threatened mammals on their continent because its habitat has been destroyed by suburban development. The Great hamster's preferred foods are wheat, barley, grass and cabbages. But farmers have opted to grow corn because they make more money doing so and thus the hamster cannot find it's preferred foods unless it travels for long periods.

According to The Independent , "After several warnings, the European Commission has decided to take legal action against Paris under the European Union directives for the preservation of wildlife. The French government has previously attempted to save the hamster by giving farmers subsidies to grow wheat or lucerne but to no avail. A census this year succeeded in locating only 250 hamsters, compared with 500 seven years ago and an estimated self-sustaining population of 1,500." There are thought to be around 800 hamsters in the wild now, which is a great improvement over the 250 hamsters hamsters thought to be in the wild a few years ago.

Farmers in the area generally thought of the hamster as a pest and therefore tried to get rid of them whenever they were bothered or found amongst their crops and before the hamster was a protected species it was poisoned and flooded out of its dens.

According to Yahoo! News "The Great Hamster is a solitary animal like most other larger hamsters. This hamster spends most of its time underground hibernating for up to six months and only comes out in the spring to mate. The Great Hamster of Alsace can grow to 10 inches long and has a brown and white face, white paws and a black belly."

Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brussels-steps-in-to-save-the-great-hamster-of-alsace-1722469.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110610/ts_yblog_theenvoy/of-mice-and-men-european-court-raps-france-over-hamster-plight

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/europe/10hamsters.html?_r=1&src=tptw