The hazel dormouse is one of Britain's rarest and most charming mammals, dependent on connected ancient hedgerow and woodland habitat that has been severely reduced by agricultural change.
Dormouse welfare is fundamentally a habitat connectivity issue. As highly specialised arboreal animals that rarely touch the ground, dormice in fragmented landscapes face an insurmountable barrier to movement when their hedgerow or woodland habitat is severed by roads, housing, or intensive agricultural land. Isolated populations cannot receive immigrant individuals when local conditions deteriorate, creating a welfare crisis at both individual and population level. Individuals in small isolated populations face reduced genetic diversity leading to higher disease susceptibility and reproductive failure. Creating and restoring hedgerow corridors between woodland patches is the primary welfare intervention, alongside reducing road fragmentation through wildlife bridges or underpasses in known dormouse areas.