Wildlife volunteers spot black dormouse in UK for the first time! - Watch

Image courtesy: Apex

New Delhi: An extremely rare breed of black dormouse is recently spotted in the Blackdown Hills of United Kingdom (UK). The existence of these species were first recorded in 1972 in northern Germany where they were spotted in small numbers.

This remarkable discovery was made during a dormouse box check by the Blackdown Hills Natural Futures (BHNF) project team for the Dormouse Monitoring Program.

According to BBC, Britain has only one native species of dormouse - which has hazel fur. The black color is thought to be caused by a recessive gene.

Blackdown Hills project is a new community wildlife project that surveys diverse wildlife sites and promotes conservation.
For the past several years, Britain's native dormouse has declined by more than a third and so, the discovery of black dormouse in the country shows a ray of hope in revamping their dying population.

Watch the story of this incredible discovery here:

(Video credit: Blackdown Hills Natural Futures)