Dr Joanna Ziomek from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań together with the Polish Society for the Protection of Nature Salamandra developed a project for the protection, breeding and reintroduction of the European hamster. The Poznański Zoological Garden has joined the rescue mission of the endangered species.

The environmentalists caught 8 hamsters in the Czech Republic, which are reproduced in the vicinity of Jaworzno. Poznański Zoological Garden joined the action: there are currently 12 hamsters in the Old ZOO. Individual hamsters born and raised in the zoo will be the starting population for the rebuilding of the species.

European hamster, whose population in the last 40 years has decreased by 75 percent. It is a species registered in the Polish Red Book of Animals. The causes of extinction of this species are change of the crop system, use of large amounts of chemicals and urbanization of the village. Climate change is also important. Too warm winter means that animals are too quick to wake up and have nothing to eat.