One of Europe’s rarest mammals, the blind mole rat, is threatened by the loss of its grassland habitat. These animals are incredibly elusive and difficult to study, spending their whole lives underground. In particular, the Vojvodina blind mole rat, Nannospalax leucodon (or lesser blind mole rat) is severely threatened, with only 5 populations and less than 1000 individuals remaining. One population has recently been discovered in Croatia but development, agriculture, and poison means their current habitat is no longer suitable and they are set to become extinct.
Mammal Conservation Europe is helping to move this population to a new area of suitable habitat. We have worked hard with our partners to apply for translocation permits from the Croatian government and are aiming to begin capture of the animals in Spring 2026. However, this process is costly and we additionally need to buy the land we wish to move these animals to. MCE are therefore launching a fundraiser to help move this project along urgently.
Follow this link to head to our GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-some-of-europes-most-threatened-animals
Limited taxonomic knowledge means we don’t know exact species classifications and therefore the Vojvodina blind mole rat could be one single species or could encompass a whole group of species. We therefore don’t even know how many species of blind mole rat we are at risk of losing. The IUCN has categorised them as ‘data deficient’ but their rarity and isolation from other populations makes them an urgent conservation concern.
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Follow along to keep up to date with this project, plus mammal news from around Europe!
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