Race to save the Great Hamster of Alsace, France
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Farmers in northern France have been ordered to grow a certain type of crop - because it is to the taste of an endangered species of hamster.
Officials have come up with the £2.5million plan in a last-ditch bid to save the Great Hamster of Alsace which is facing extinction.
Landowners in the area have been told they must set aside part of their fields to grow crops that the hamster will eat, including maize and alfalfa.
Farmers in northern France have been ordered to grow a certain type of crop - because it is to the taste of an endangered species of hamster. Officials have come up with the ¿3 million (£2.5million) plan in a last-ditch bid to save the Great Hamster of Alsace which is facing extinction
THE GREAT HAMSTER OF ALSACE
The hamster is a protected species of hibernating rodents.
It looks similar to the golden hamster commonly found in pet stores, but is a wild creature that spends the majority of its times burrowing and living underground.
It digs burrows in the fields of wheat and alfalfa because it feeds on the crops and uses them to hide from predators.
The belly of the Great Hamster is usually lighter in colour than the back, which is typically black.
The male is a reddish-brown, with white spots found on the end of its legs.
It is also larger than common hamsters - grows around 10 inches tall - and is closer in size to the guinea pig.
Source: The Grand Hamster Alsace
Only 1,000 of the threatened hamsters are thought to exist in the wild.
They grow to 10 inches long and are recognised by their brown and white face, black belly, white paws and small round ears.
The European Court of Justice has already ruled that France has not done enough to save the rodent.
The five-year project will see farmers in Alsace try to encourage the reproduction of the Great Hamster of Alsace. They aim to raise the population to around 1,500.
As part of the €3 million (£2.5million) project announced by Alsace's regional council, farmers have pledged to grow plants or grains that the rodent feeds on.
An action plan for the hamster had been put in place in 2007, but the European Court of Justice ruled in 2011 that France was still not doing enough to protect the animal, which hibernates for six months and spends the vast majority of its life alone.
Only 1,000 of the threatened hamsters, pictured, are thought to exist in the wild. The European Court of Justice has already ruled France has not done enough to save the rodent. The five-year project will see farmers in Alsace try to encourage reproduction by planting alfafa. They aim to raise the population to around 1,500
A bale of alfafa. The hamster has been protected legally since 1993, but its numbers fell from 1,167 in 2001 to as few as 161 in 2007. The preferred grazing of the creature - forage crops such as alfalfa - have largely been replaced by the more profitable maize, which it does not like
The hamster has been protected legally since 1993, but its numbers fell from 1,167 in 2001 to as few as 161 in 2007, although they have since gone up slightly.
The preferred grazing of the creature - forage crops such as alfalfa - have largely been replaced by the more profitable maize, which it does not like.
Farmers will therefore try planting a mix of maize and alfalfa, or leaving strips of plants in between each line of maize.
'The aim is to find innovative... practices to preserve the animal without harming farmers' activities,' the regional council said in a statement.
Rampant urbanisation has also contributed to eroding the rodent's population, and the hamster currently lives in just 14 zones in Alsace criss-crossed by busy thoroughfares.
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