LONDON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A new official road sign featuring a hedgehog is to be introduced in accident hotspots in Britain, it was announced Monday.
The new road sign will be aimed at improving road safety and protecting hedgehogs and other animals, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced.
The signs will be used to warn motorists in areas where there are large concentrations of small wild animals, including squirrels, badgers, otters and hedgehogs.
According to the latest DfT figures, hundreds of people are injured every year in collisions involving animals in the road.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling called on town and city councils and animal welfare groups to identify accident and wildlife hotspots where the sign should be located.
The road sign is also designed to reverse the decline in wildlife numbers, in particular, hedgehogs whose population in rural areas has halved since 2000.
Grayling said: "We have some of the safest roads in the world but we are always looking at how we can make them safer. The new small mammal warning sign should help to reduce the number of people killed and injured, as well as helping our precious small wild mammal population to flourish."
The new hedgehog sign joins other warning signs already used on British roads, such as signs warning about deer and livestock.
