Islanders net £4,000 in bounties as hedgehog rescuers needle SNH

More than 4,100 in bounties was also handed out to islanders, who were paid 20 for each hedgehog they rescued from a government-funded cull.

Uist Hedgehog Rescue - the umbrella group of animal welfare organisations which staged the operation - said it was pleased by the success of this year's rescue, the third year it had been mounted.

Hedgehogs are being killed in the Uists - this year's cull has cost 62,000 - because they eat the eggs of internationally important colonies of ground-nesting birds.

"Over the last three years we have now removed over 600 hedgehogs from the islands. These animals have been released into suitable habitats on the mainland where they can live out the rest of their lives in peace," said Ross Minett of UHR, which has been backed by Sir Paul McCartney, Joanna Lumley, Twiggy, Sting and lyricist Sir Tim Rice. "Our efforts will undoubtedly have been of great benefit to the important populations of wader birds on the islands.

"We are building an excellent working relationship with the local islanders, and through our reward scheme we have put over 4,000 back into the local community this year alone."

But Minett attacked Scottish Natural Heritage, the government wildlife agency, which is leading the cull. "SNH exists to protect Scotland's natural heritage, not to kill it. It should be remembered that this unethical 'conservation' work is being paid for using taxpayers' money, yet killing hedgehogs is flying in the face of expert advice and public opinion," he said.

"SNH, the Scottish Executive and RSPB Scotland, which make up the Uist Wader Project, were warned that we would oppose their hedgehog-killing policy. This we have done and this we will continue to do until this unethical treatment of our wildlife is halted."

SNH put down the animals by lethal injection. It is thought they have so far killed more than 160. SNH, which has killed their hedgehogs in Benbecula and North Uist, says the eight- week cull is vital to protect important populations of ground nesting birds from hedgehogs eating their eggs.

Several species of ground-nesting birds including lapwing, redshank and ringed plover have come under threat from hedgehogs. The animals were introduced to the islands by people in the 1970s and are not native. As a result bird populations have halved since the mid-1980s.

SNH say there is no alternative to the cull. Some 5,000 hedgehogs face being killed eventually - though some experts believe the numbers have been overestimated.