Radio-Tagged Madras Hedgehog Gives Birth During Tamil Nadu Conservation Study

Key facts

• The Madras Hedgehog Conservation Project 2025-2026, run under the Tamil Nadu government's conservation of lesser-known endangered species scheme with ₹20.50 lakh allocated, is spearheaded by the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) and covers Thoothukudi, Kallakurichi, Tirunelveli and Salem districts.
• A survey of 480 respondents across 24 villages around the Kuthiraimozhi red sand dunes in Thoothukudi district found that about 91% reported seeing Madras hedgehogs much less frequently than before and about 95% perceived a population decline, with hunting and poaching the most cited threat at 34.4%, followed by habitat loss, deforestation, and pesticide use or chemical pollution.
• Land use and land cover analysis in Thoothukudi revealed substantial landscape changes over the past two decades, highlighting the consequences of land conversion and habitat fragmentation for the hedgehog's persistence and landscape connectivity.
• To track home range, movement patterns and habitat use, the AIWC team deployed very high frequency (VHF) radio telemetry with animal-mounted transmitters, a receiver and a directional antenna, fitting three hedgehogs (MH01, MH02 and MH03); MH01 and MH03 were tagged at Peikulam and Sathankulam respectively, and MH02 in Theri Kaadu Reserve Forest.
• MH01 gave birth to a hoglet on October 11, 2026, at the Peikulam grassland landscape in Thoothukudi district; after monitoring from September 24 and three days inside its burrow, a camera placed nearby confirmed the birth, offering insights into the breeding behaviour of the species Paraechinus nudiventris endemic to southern India.