Sir Terry Pratchett, the author, has warned that Britain's hedgehogs and sparrows are in danger of dying out after being "orphaned by traffic, hurt by pollution and forced out of their natural habitat".
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The fantasy writer, 63, who is best known for his Discworld books, has backed a new campaign to build a £4.4m wildlife teaching hospital, which would include an education centre to train young vets.
Sir Terry said: "Orphaned by traffic, hurt by our pollution and rubbish and forced out of their natural habitats by our developments, Britain's wildlife is in serious decline.
"So much so that even the sparrow and the much-loved hedgehog are endangered.
"Fifty years ago there were 30 million hedgehogs in Britain but now there is only an estimated 1.1million - so if we carry on at this rate they could be extinct in 10 years.
"Yet when humans decide to act they succeed in reversing the trend. I urge everyone to play their part."
The author was speaking at Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, in East Huntspill, Somerset, which is the site of the proposed centre.
Sir Terry was joined by television naturalists Mike Dilger, Simon King, Steve Backshall, Chris Packam and Michaela Strachan in backing the Call of the Wild Appeal to raise money for the hospital.
It will include an operating theatre, examination, preparation and x-ray rooms, with a first floor laboratory, lecture theatre and library.
It would give Secret World, Britain's only 24-hour animal rescue centre, the facilities to provide all veterinary care on one site and bring faster relief to suffering wildlife.
A computer link would allow up to 120 resident students a year to watch procedures being performed by the hospital's in-house veterinary surgeon in an operating theatre.
Sir Terry, who is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's, previously offered a £10,000 reward to catch a swan killer - who massacred 30 of the birds in Somerset last year.
The author is also campaigning for the right to die and has funded the Commission on Assisted Dying which says assisted suicide should be allowed for those who are mentally competent.
Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:51 pm
