Wildlife SOS rescued a small baby hedgehog in Agra Bear Rescue Facility, Uttar Pradesh. Gopal Singh, the bear keeper was busy in his routine field cleaning work when he noticed a baby hedgehog wandering in a bear enclosure. With the agility and speed we never knew Gopal possessed, he dashed into the bear enclosure and scooped up the little one, even as a few curious bears had started walking towards it. The hedgehog was ‘rescued’ and brought to the vets.
The Indian hedgehog is a species of hedgehog native to India and Pakistan. Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals and usually live in burrows in semi-arid/desert regions. Thery are found in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh States of India and in some parts of Pakistan. They are insectivorous in nature and absorb moisture from their diet as they do not drink water directly. Hedgehogs are born with very few spines and within 6-12 hours they started developing the spines. Spines of hedgehog are small and they do not shed spines like those of the porcupine.
The hedgehog baby was kept under observation for some time and after all requisite check-ups it was found fit to be released. The bear keeper found a burrow near the same enclosure and the baby hedgehog was released back in the same area near the burrow in the evening around 7 clock. It hasn’t been seen since then and we can only guess that it is safe in its burrow now.
