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Once a common sight in France, the hedgehog could soon disappear from the country entirely.

One danger for these nocturnal and timid creatures is being run over. Between 700,000 and 1 million hedgehogs are killed this way each year.

But that is not the only threat. Nature expert Philippe Jourde cites the expansion of cities and road networks as reasons behind a big loss in numbers over the last two decades.

‘Their population is in a bad way everywhere, and it’s especially linked to agricultural pesticides and changes to their natural habitats’.

By some estimations the French population of hedgehogs could be entirely wiped out by 2050.