France: heroic hamsters help biodiversity

Natural habitats impacted by the construction of a 24 kilometre stretch of motorway are receiving a boost from Alsatian hamsters. This follows 40 years of controversy and local opposition to the route's construction, near Strasbourg in northeastern France.

The road's constructor, Vinci Autoroutes, had to accommodate a French law from 2016 which obliges it to compensate for the loss of biodiversity it causes.

Also known as the European hamster, as an umbrella species the Alsatian hamster benefits other flora and fauna. It provides a guide to the quality of local habitats, explains Timothée Gérard, a PhD student at the National Scientific Research Centre.

Timothée Gérard: "We know that if the hamster can reproduce, it will positively impact the insect community, the annelids community, the earthworms. These species also help crops. We expect that where the hamster is doing well, we'll see the crops benefit, with less need for fertilisers, pesticides, etc. and more viable ecosystems for birds, for micromammals, for insects."

Historically viewed as a pest and driven to the brink of extinction through trapping and hunting, the Alsatian hamster was made a protected species. Despite being added to the list of critically endangered species in 2020, there's now hope for the animal says Arnaud Guillemin, Vinci's environmental manager.

Arnaud Guillemin: "As it's a protected species, we have very low populations. The idea of our operation is that the hamsters which we release reproduce – to recreate a new generation and increase the local population."

Since the motorway stretches across wheatfields and wheat's the staple diet of the Alsatian hamster, the species seems the ideal candidate to be reintroduced.

Exacting protocols surround each release of hamsters into the wild, with the aim of supporting the success of the programme. Head of breeding at not-for-profit Sauvegarde Faune Sauvage, Celia Schappler, outlines some considerations.

Celia Schappler: "We will release them in lines, alternating between male and female. We prepare which hamster will go into which burrow, to avoid inbreeding. We never release two hamsters from the same litter on the same plot."

The project has the potential for both hamsters and habitats to make considerable gains. View Less