A wildlife hospital in Israel is truly doing the Lord’s work, taking in overweight (and adorable) hedgehogs and putting them on a strict diet and exercise regimen so they don’t, y’know, die.
Why are there a bunch of boombalatty hedgehogs running around Tel Aviv? Apparently, local residents regularly put out food for the many stray cats that populate the streets. Unfortunately, cat food is pretty irresistible to lil’ hedgies, who gorge on the high protein, high fat food and end up, in some cases, unable to even walk.
That was the situation with one little spike-ball called Sherman (!!!), who weighed a whopping 1.6kg when a concerned citizen brought him in after discovering him struggling to get around.
Hedgehogs, if you didn’t know, are only supposed to weigh 600-900 grams, which means Sherman was dangerously overweight. He couldn’t even roll into a ball, which is deeply tragic as it’s exactly what hedgehogs are built to do.
HELLO FREN
Zookeeper Becka Rifkin explained:
He’s too fat to go back to the wildlife right now so until he loses enough weight we are looking after him and keeping him busy and exercising him.
Having already lost 120g, Sherman should be good to be re-released in about six months.
The Ramat Gan Safari Zoo has rehabilitated about a dozen prickly mates who’ve been brought in suffering from a case of over-festiveness. Keep fighting the good fight, you noble wildlife warriors.
