Wild Shrew Insectivore Decline Welfare

Shrews and other small insectivores are declining across many regions due to habitat loss and insect decline, with individual welfare affected by food scarcity and increased energetic stress.

Key Facts

Common shrews must eat 80 to 90% of their body weight daily due to extremely high metabolic rates
A shrew that cannot find food for more than a few hours faces death from starvation
Insect decline directly affects shrew food availability — their primary prey is soil invertebrates
Shrews are beneficial predators of garden pests including slugs, beetles, and fly larvae
Road traffic kills millions of shrews annually as they cross roads on foraging routes

Welfare Considerations

Individual shrews unable to find sufficient invertebrate prey face one of the most acute forms of starvation in any mammal — their metabolic rate is so high that a few hours without food can be fatal. The welfare significance of insect and invertebrate decline for shrews is therefore severe and immediate at the individual level. Garden management that supports soil invertebrate communities through reducing pesticide use, leaving leaf litter and log piles, and avoiding compacting or paving soil provides direct welfare benefit to shrew populations.

What You Can Do

Reduce or eliminate pesticide use in your garden to support soil invertebrate communities shrews depend on
Leave leaf litter, log piles, and undisturbed soil as shrew foraging and shelter habitat
Never disturb hibernating hedgehogs or shrew nests found in garden compost or leaf piles
Learn about the ecological roles of shrews as insectivores in garden and woodland ecosystems