You’ve all probably encountered him in the last few weeks. The cute rodent that graces our content. May we now officially introduce: The garden dormouse, our official mascot for v2 of FLECS.
Every year, the German Wildlife Foundation chooses the animal of the year. Criteria for the election include endangerment, threat to habitat, or because it causes human-wildlife conflict. The goal is to make the public aware of this animal. We at FLECS feel this goal is right and important. That is why we decided that our mascot should be the animal of the year. Since we also publish a new main version every year, the mascot therefore always accompanies it for exactly one year before it is replaced by the next animal of the year. This way we make a small contribution to give these animals another public stage.
This year the garden dormouse has been chosen as animal of the year. Contrary to what its name suggests, the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) is originally at home in rocky and stony coniferous and mixed forests. It belongs to the dormouse family, which is also represented in Germany by the common dormouse, the hazel dormouse and the extremely rare tree dormouse. With its black “Zorro mask”, the garden dormouse is easy to distinguish from the common dormouse.
The range of the garden dormouse in Europe has shrunk by about 50 percent in the last three decades. In many regions it has disappeared. It is still unclear why. What is certain, however, is that its habitat has changed dramatically with the loss of natural orchards, urban sprawl and intensive forestry.
If you want to learn more about the garden dormouse, read the profile of the German Wildlife Foundation. And if you feel the need to do something good for this animal, donate a few Euros.
You like our garden sleeper and you also need a mascot? Then just contact our designer Dominik Ultes (DomDozy(at)gmx.de)!
