Dozing dormouse found in popped helium balloon in Essex
By Helen Burchell
Published on March 30, 2026.
The Essex Trust has found a sleeping dormouse in a deflated helium balloon, which was found in a tree and removed it from the air. The animal was in a torpid state, a state of sleep, which is a survival strategy for these animals in cold weather. The conservationists believe that dormouse populations have dropped 70% in the UK in the last 25 years, and are now extinct in 14 counties due to habitat loss.
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