On Saturday, the World Homik Day is celebrated. The European hamster is a critically threatened species of mammal. As scientists alert, in the next several years it may become extinct throughout the Eurasian area of occurrence.
Professor of the Adam Mickiewicz University Habilitated Joanna Ziomek from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Cognition She informed that the area of the European hamster in Poland has decreased by as much as 75 percent. compared to the 1980s.
– All studies show that if we do not take protective measures on this species, then between 2038 and 2050 it will desecrate throughout the Eurasian area of occurrence – she said.
“Umbrella species”
Earlier, hamsters were killed by people, because it is a species that lives in arable fields. Currently, the problem is the diet to which these animals are condemned.
– There are only cereals in the arable fields, which reduces the reproductive potential of European hamsters. The ecosystem should be more rich. You need plants from which a hamster can take protein and wild plants, from which it can draw vitamins and minerals. Only a diverse diet has a good effect on fitness, which of course is also associated with sexual condition – the scientist said.
Prof. Ziomek explained that the hamster is treated as an indicator of the condition of our ecosystems. Its disappearance testifies to a broader crisis, which also affects other species related to the agricultural landscape.
– It is an umbrella species, which means that the protection of the European hamster and its habitat will also be the protection of other species, both plants and animals living in a given environment – she said.
According to scientists, European hamsters can be helped by educating, talking about the genre and its situation, but also showing its valuable role in the network of life. In the areas where he occurs, for example in the Lublin Upland, road signs were erected with the inscription “Attention to the hamster”. Entans of European hamsters are enthusiasts: scientists, non -governmental organizations, private individuals involved in the promotion of knowledge about the endangered genre, promoting it and in its study.
On April 12, the World Day of Homik is.
European hamster (Latin Cricetus Cricetus)PhotoCech/Adobestock
Source of the main photo: PhotoCech/Adobestock