German mayors have called for a nationwide ban on night-time use of robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs and other small nocturnal animals from being killed or maimed in the dark.<\/p>\n
Recent studies have highlighted the threat lawnmower blades pose to wildlife active between dusk and dawn, prompting growing calls for regulation. Hedgehogs also tend to curl into a ball when threatened rather than running away, making them harder for a robot mower\u2019s sensors to detect.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany animals are active in gardens, particularly in the evening hours. They also depend on these green spaces in the immediate vicinity of residential areas,\u201d said Claudia Kalisch, the vice-president of the German federation of cities.<\/p>\n
Kalisch, who is the mayor of L\u00fcneburg in northern Germany<\/a> for the Green party, said cities had become substitute habitats for many of the mammals as property development and intensive agriculture encroach on their habitats.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why a nationwide ban on night-time operation [of the lawnmowers] is a logical protective measure,\u201d she told the Funke newspaper group, after petitions making a similar appeal drew tens of thousands of signatures<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n Kalisch said companies making automated garden equipment had a responsibility to do more to protect wildlife.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are also calling on manufacturers to find solutions to ensure that small animals are no longer endangered by robotic lawnmowers,\u201d she said on behalf of the cities\u2019 federation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a key step towards protecting animals and enriching the quality of life in the city through biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n Hedgehogs have appeared on the \u201cnear threatened\u201d red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/a> since 2024 after a drop in numbers of at least 30% over the previous decade.<\/p>\n Beyond lawnmowers, motorised leaf blowers and vacuums can also be harmful to hibernating hedgehogs<\/a>, while up to one in three are run over by vehicles, a big factor in their drastic decline<\/a> across Europe over recent decades.<\/p>\n Researchers at the University of Oxford, collaborating with colleagues in Denmark, published a study last month showing hedgehogs hear high-frequency ultrasound<\/a>, raising hopes that they could be deterred from dangerous roads with sonic repellers.<\/p>\n Oxford experts have also used crash-test-dummy hedgehogs<\/a>, created with the help of 3D printers, to work with industry in the hope of enabling a certification scheme that would allow consumers to choose \u201chedgehog-friendly\u201d mowers.<\/p>\n