Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Court to France: Save the Hamsters or Pay $24M

France not doing enough, faces fines if it doesn't improve

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2011 9:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – They may be just 10 inches long, but Alsace’s wild hamsters are Great all the same—and France isn’t doing enough to keep them around, the EU’s top court ruled yesterday. If the country doesn't make a better life for the creatures, it faces $24.6 million in fines. The Great Hamster of Alsace is Western Europe’s only wild hamster, and there are only 800 alive in France today, notes the New York Times.

The brown, white, and black creatures have been threatened by the development of highways and buildings, which has forced them to travel further to find food after a 6-month hibernation period. Though they’ve been protected by law since 1993, “protection measures for the Great Hamster put in place by France were insufficient,” the court said. Alsace—the only place in Western Europe where the hamsters live, though they're common in Eastern Europe and Central Asia—“must stop some urbanization projects and restore” some of the foods that the hamsters enjoy, says a wildlife advocate.

A Great Hamster. (Getty Images)

A Great Hamster of Alsace at a breeding center this month. (Getty Images)

A picture taken on June 7, 2011 in Hunawihr, eastern France, in a breeding center dedicated to the reintroduction of the specimen, shows a Great Hamster of Alsace. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE

14%

18%

51%

13%

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Sarkozy: Change—or Kiss Eurozone Goodbye

At odds with Germany over ECB, deflation, budget enforcement

(NEWSER) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday called for changing the eurozone treaty to make a tighter, stronger union, and demanded more budget discipline, increased help for foundering economies, and replacing countries' veto rights with qualified majorities, reports Reuters . He also called for the European Central Bank to be more interventionist and fight possible deflation. "Let us not hide it, Europe may be swept away by the crisis if it doesn't get a grip, if it doesn't change," he warned. "We don't have the right to let such a disaster happen." More»

Get Ready for 'Eurogeddon'

Jeremy Wagner warns of riots, 'biggest mass default in history'

(NEWSER) - With the euro crisis spreading even to mighty Germany last week—when investors ignored a bund auction and sovereign debt yields grew more expensive than the UK's—it is clear now that the euro crisis is not just about the debts of the poorer, peripheral countries like Greece and Portugal, or even the entitlement-swollen troubles of bigger countries such as Italy and Spain. "What we are witnessing is awesome stuff—the death throes of a currency," writes Jeremy Wagner in the Telegraph , calling the potential collapse "eurogeddon." More»

Greece Leader Faces Revolt on Bailout Mess

George Papandreou struggling to hold his own party together

(NEWSER) - After Greece’s prime minister shocked the world —and his own finance minister—by announcing a public referendum on the EU bailout, the government has entered crisis mode. As leaders hold emergency talks, six members of George Papandreou’s party have called for his resignation, and one has quit, leaving his party’s majority at two, the BBC reports. The opposition party wants an election, while a top MP from Papandreou’s party wants to form a unity “government of national salvation,” to be followed by elections. More»

French Fight Erupts Over Marauding Wolves

Shepherds want to hunt sheep killers at will

(NEWSER) - Call it Yellowstone sur Seine. French shepherds are demanding the surging wolf population be culled following increasing sheep deaths by the growing packs of protected canines. Wolves are now roaming the Vosges Mountains on the Alsace-Lorraine border for the first time in 80 years. Some experts predict the wolves could reach forests near Paris in a decade if not controlled, reports the Independent . A handful of Italian wolves in the Alps have multiplied to some 200 animals in 20 packs. But that's bad news for sheep, so a group of Alpine shepherds and politicians are petitioning for the right to hunt the animals at will. More»

French Hotel Lets You Live Like a Hamster

Guest munch grain, sleep in haystacks

(NEWSER) - So much for escaping the rat race: A French hotel offers guests the opportunity to act like, of all things, a hamster for the weekend—complete with grain to eat and a wheel to run in. The “Hamster Villa” also offers haystacks to sleep in for about $148 a night, Reuters reports. The owner—who was dressed as a hamster for the interview— says “often, the adults who come here have wanted or did have hamsters when they were small.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Court to France: Save the Hamsters or Pay $24M

France not doing enough, faces fines if it doesn't improve

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

European Union • France • Alsace • hamster • animals

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Sarkozy: Change—or Kiss Eurozone Goodbye

At odds with Germany over ECB, deflation, budget enforcement

Get Ready for 'Eurogeddon'

Jeremy Wagner warns of riots, 'biggest mass default in history'

Greece Leader Faces Revolt on Bailout Mess

George Papandreou struggling to hold his own party together

French Fight Erupts Over Marauding Wolves

Shepherds want to hunt sheep killers at will

French Hotel Lets You Live Like a Hamster

Guest munch grain, sleep in haystacks

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?