Estonia's rewilding effort faces new challenge from fox
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
Ecologists in Estonia released garden dormice onto Suur‑Pakri Island this summer to restore the population of the species, which had disappeared from the country due to human activity and was last sighted in 1986.
The team selected the island because it was previously free of predators. However, a fox travelled to the island over the ice during a harsh winter and now poses a threat to the reintroduced dormice.
Researchers observed more than half of the initial 20 dormice were still alive a few weeks after their release, a positive sign for such a small animal with a short lifespan. Despite the dormice’s ability to climb trees, putting them out of the fox’s immediate reach, the two species’ paths could still cross.
The ecologist Marko Mägi and his team are now monitoring the situation to see if the dormice can survive the winter alongside the fox, noting the fox has other food sources available on the island.
