Feature: English town of Ipswich aims to be safest haven in Britain for hedgehogs

A nature trust in England Saturday named the woman they've appointed as maybe the world's first hedgehog officer.

Zoology graduate Alexandra North, 25, beat applicants from as far away as China and the United States to win the 24,000 pounds a year post (31,500 U.S. dollars) with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Starting work in September, North's task will be to transform Ipswich into Britain's most hedgehog-friendly town.

A Suffolk Hedgehog Survey carried out by the trust, along with a recent Ipswich Wildlife Audit, both highlighted Ipswich as a hedgehog hotspot.

More than 150 applicants applied for the job after the vacancy attracted world wide attention.

North, currently a researcher with conservation group Birdlife International, beat applicants for the job from across Britain, as well as from countries including China, the United States, South Korea, Nepal, France, Spain and Germany.

North will encourage people in Ipswich to help hedgehogs survive by creating safe hedgehog routes, known as "hedgehog streets" through back gardens to link with the many parks in the town.

The trust's CEO, Julian Roughton, told Xinhua: "We believe this is the first appointment of its kind anywhere in the world. We decided to create this job because the trust received a large number of sightings of hedgehogs in and around Ipswich. The competition for the job was really tough and we had some really strong candidates."

"The gardens and parks of our towns and cities are becoming a haven for these wonderful little creatures. We want people in Ipswich to create little holes in their garden fences so the hedgehogs can move around safely," said Roughton.

"Alexandra's job as our new Ipswich Hedgehog Officer will be to give whole communities an understanding of hedgehogs, the reasons behind their dramatic decline and how they can help conserve them. A key part of the role will involve mobilizing participants in Ipswich to create a street-by-street network of hedgehog accessible habitats," added Roughton.

North said she was really excited by the prospect of a great project with the aim of making Ipswich a really hedgehog-friendly town.

She commented: "Everyone loves hedgehogs and they are so important to the biodiversity of our landscape and our wildlife. I really hope I can engage with people and encourage everyone to see how making small changes really can make a difference to these little creatures."

Hedgehog champion, the television personality, Stephen Fry, said: "Hedgehogs are extraordinary little creatures. Remaining relatively unchanged for the past 15 million years they are one of the oldest mammals on earth. It seems modern life is not suiting them well. If we still want to delight in seeing their spiny silhouettes trundling along our roads and through our gardens in the dead of night, we must act now."

Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk, with a population of around 134,000, and is about 100 km northeast of London. Endit