Of mice and men: European court raps France over hamster plight

[Ban Hammer 12,861]

Europe's highest court warned France Thursday that it needs to do more to protect the hamster: the Great Hamster of Alsace, to be precise, which is western Europe's last remaining species of hamster in the wild.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled Thursday that France needs to modify its agriculture and urban growth policies to preserve the Great Hamster or face fines of $25 million, the New York Times Steve Erlanger reports.

The Great Hamster "can grow up to 10 inches long, has a brown-and-white face, white paws and a black belly," Erlanger notes. There are thought to be about 800 of the creatures left in France.

The problem?

The Great Hamster likes to eat things like alfalfa and grass. And French farmers have gradually replaced those crops with corn, "which is not ripe in the spring when the hamster awakens from six months of hibernation," hungry and ready to mate, Erlanger writes.

The hamster must therefore "make longer and more hazardous journeys as its grazing area shrinks because of new highways and housing developments," he writes.

"Protection measures for the Great Hamster put in place by France were insufficient ... to ensure the strict protection of the species," the court of Justice decided. France's Ecology Ministry had no immediate comment on the ruling, Erlanger wrote.

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[Vi-Jay 218]

Afterall.., They will need that hamster when the battle for Narnia begins.

[Ban Hammer 12,861]

Afterall.., They will need that hamster when the battle for Narnia begins.

nah, they need the hamster for another dr doolittle film.

[Vi-Jay 218]

nah, they need the hamster for another dr doolittle film.

Well maybe that hamster is a thespian and soldier of fortune.

Must be really special to carry a 25M bounty.