I never knew the European hamster was threatened. You learn something new every day.
Today I came across an article from telegraph.co.uk about EU stating that they will punish France with a multi-million pound fine if they do not take measures to save hamsters in Alsace, eastern France. According to Wikipedia Alsace is the last place in Western Europe where you can find the European hamster, also known as Black-bellied hamster. The population of hamsters in Alsace is under threat too because the hamsters has traditionally been seen as a vermin and been killed. In later years the local farmers has gone from producing food that hamsters like to eat to growing maize which is not ripe when the hamsters wake up from the winter sleep. This has made food sources scarce for the hamsters and their numbers has dwindled from 1,167 in 2001 to 161 only last year!

I hope EU is successful in pressuring France to protect the European hamster.