Erfurt (dpa/th) – Field hamsters are fighting for survival in Thuringia. Too many of the cute animals die in winter – from a lack of food, as the Ministry of the Environment announced on Wednesday in Erfurt on request. Occurrence of the animal species threatened with extinction is still mainly on the arable land in the Thuringian Basin north of Erfurt.
For about 50 years, the field hamster populations at the edges of the range have been declining. According to the ministry, the population has declined by up to 60 percent since the 1970s. An event organized by the Landscape Conservation Association of Central Thuringia on Wednesday dealt with how hamster stocks can be stabilized.
According to the ministry, the state has been promoting the development, advice and implementation of field hamster-friendly land management since 2017.
