Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > terrestrial mammal > Rodent |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Muscardinus avellanarius |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Mathews & Harrower, 2020 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Consistent evidence of long term decline from national monitoring programme. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Long term decline has resulted in small, vulnerable populations. Isolation of these populations could lead to a lack of genetic diversity within populations, and an associated susceptibility to certain diseases. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This species is associated with early to mid-successional stages of woodland, e.g. scrub, coppice, hedges |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) is excellent resource but confined to broadleaf woodland. Other habitats not monitored actively. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted creation and management of dormouse habitat, especially successional woodland habitats across current and potential habitat landscape, by Increasing species richness and structural diversity. The aim should be to increase habitat area and increase connectivity between current and potential habitats ensuring the provision of good quality hedgerows which provide good nesting and foraging opportunities and link to other hedgerows and other suitable habitat i.e. scrub and woodland.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Potential to influence land owners and especially arable farmers to maximise the potential in field edges and hedgerows. Likely beneficiary of wider woodland habitat creation.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Continue to follow best practice adopted by the dormouse captive breeders group to maximise genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding and other deleterious genetic effects when undertaking planned reintroductions as part of the national reintroduction programme.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Research into ecology and densities at which hazel dormouse populations are resident in non-broadleaf woodland habitats particularly scrub and hedgerow. Whilst also considering the densities at which dormice occupy woodland at the high canopy versus the lower level.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Basic research required to understand population ecology in non-broadleaf woodland habitats, in order to identify and inform additional opportunities to increase and improve habitat and connectivity.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.