Two months after being released into the wild, field hamsters in northern Saxony have had their first offspring. The first young have been spotted on wildlife cameras, Leipzig Zoo announced. Together with partners, it is breeding the small rodents in a species conservation project and releasing them into the wild on selected fields in northern Saxony.
In May, the European Union-funded species conservation project "LIFE4HamsterSaxony" began its second year of reintroduction. A total of 179 hamsters were introduced to two fields in northern Saxony.
A total of 15 healthy young animals
The rodents are reared in a breeding station at the zoo and health checks are carried out beforehand. Project manager Thomas Liebenstein, who is in charge of the field hamster conservation project, is also delighted about the new offspring at the zoo: "So far we have nine litters, two of which we have already been able to inspect with a total of 15 healthy young animals."
The hamster project will run for six years and is being funded with 12.2 million euros. 75 percent of this is being provided by the European Union. The rest is shared by the state of Saxony, Leipzig Zoo and the district of North Saxony.
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