Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" helped make the sleepy dormouse a cherished childhood character. But this small, shy, nocturnal mouse is quietly moving closer to extinction -- unless we act now!
Even though the IUCN Red List classifies the species as Least Concern, the Britain dormouse's population has drastically dropped over "the past hundred years and they are now vulnerable to extinction," reports the West Sussex County Times.
The IUCN Red List recognizes that even though the mouse is widespread across Europe and Asia Minor, there's a "cause for concern" in parts of the mouse's range, more specifically: the U.K., Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Denmark.
Habitat loss and fragmentation -- in the forms of forestry, urbanization and agriculture -- are destroying and fragmenting ideal dormouse habitat and driving the mouse's decline.
Sign and share this petition urging British leaders to wake up to the real threats that dormice face and take action to prevent their extinction. The dormouse is a cherished childhood character, please don't let this shy mouse only exist in the world of make-believe.
Photo Credit: Ettore Balocchi
