URGENT: Save this very rare, and very weird, Blind mole-rat

The Vojvodina, or North Serbian, blind mole-rat is one of the most threatened wild animals in Europe. It is also one of the strangest:

• Completely blind: its eyes are covered by skin.
• Lives its whole life underground in long burrow systems.
• Digs using its front teeth not its paws. When it closes its mouth, the teeth stay on the outside so it can dig without its mouth filling with soil.

There are just five known populations in the world. These hold fewer than 1,000 adults, and are widely separated. Each colony is therefore highly vulnerable to inbreeding and extinction. Their habitat is under threat from development and agriculture. The animals are so secretive that they have only recently been recognised as a species (more information is available here)

Recently, a new population was discovered in Croatia, where it had previously been thought to be extinct. A local resident had wondered why onions and carrots kept disappearing from his garden, and was suprised to discover that the culprit was a thieving Blind mole-rat!

Researchers hurried to the site and discovered a small population of about 20 animals. Sadly, the colony is in a perilous state. It occupies an area of only 2 hectares, and the animals are crammed into tiny patches of grass, squeezed between houses, rubble, building sites and gardens. Without rapid intervention, they are not going to be able to survive.

WE URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP TO SAVE THIS SPECIES BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

Your donation will support vital work to:

1. Buy nearby agricultural fields and convert them to grasslands, so creating suitable habitat adjacent to the colony.

2. Educating local residents about the species, providing compensation for the small amounts of vegetables taken, and encouraging tolerance of disturbance to gardens and lawns.

4. Fund researchers to use cutting-edge methods, such as using aerial surveys with drones to create detailed digital maps that can help identify the potential locations of other populations hidden beneath the ground. 

5. Developing an Action Plan for the survival of the species, including piloting translocations to protected areas to assess feasibility as part of a long-term strategy.

Please note that if you are a donor from outside the Netherlands and wish to donate by debit card, please press the 'credit card' rather than the 'debit card' button on the donation page and enter your details there. 

Thank you!