Amur Hedgehog

The Amur hedgehog is a thick-bodied hedgehog with a short tail, short ears and sharp dorsal spines reaching 24mm. Its face, legs and underparts bear coarse hair rather than spines. Colour varies from pale yellow to dark brown, with pale-tipped and brown-banded spines often mixed with unpigmented ones. Chinese animals have been reported at 0.6–1kg and measure 15.8–30cm in head-and-body length. (Handbook of the Mammals of the World species account)

Its range extends through central and eastern China to eastern Sichuan and northern Guangdong. It occupies farmland, deciduous forest, grassland, scrub, gardens, parks and alpine habitats below the tree line. The species is mainly nocturnal, solitary outside breeding and able to hibernate through winter. It feeds heavily on invertebrates but also takes fruit, fungi, eggs, carrion and small vertebrates. Females have one or two litters of four to six young annually. (Handbook of the Mammals of the World species account)