Most dormice survive reintroduction to Suur-Pakri island
Tuesday 15th September 2026 on 15:01 in
Estonia
Most of the edible dormice released on Suur-Pakri island remain alive, zoologist Marko Mägi told ERR’s Vikerraadio programme “Ökoskoop”. Researchers tracking the animals have found them eating apples in trees at night and gathering in what Mägi described as a dormice “singing festival”.
The edible dormouse is a native Estonian species in the dormouse family that became extinct in the country as a result of human activity. The last official records of the species in the wild date back to 1986, said Mägi, a University of Tartu zoologist and leader of the dormouse restoration project.
The small animal resembles a wood mouse but is larger and has a distinctive black mask over its eyes. Its tail is furry and two-coloured. In its way of life, it is similar to a squirrel, although it is mainly active at night and hibernates for about half the year.
Mägi said the species may have disappeared from Estonia because of several factors, including climate change and more direct human impacts such as changes to the natural landscape and the use of chemicals.
Researchers released the dormice on Suur-Pakri in two stages. They took eight animals to the island on July 24, followed later by another 12. Recent observations indicate that most of them are still alive.
Foxes also reached the island across the sea ice during the winter, but Mägi said their paths and those of the dormice did not appear to have crossed significantly so far. Some of the animals carry radio transmitters, allowing researchers to track them at night. The team has found them in old apple trees, eating apples to build up fat, as well as gathering socially in the forest.
Researchers do not yet know how many will survive the winter, as the animals have never spent a winter in the wild. Mägi said the team hopes that many will survive because the island offers numerous places where they can shelter. Its longer-term goal is to find an animal born in the wild when researchers return next spring, rather than one fitted with a chip.