The fattest hedgehog ever found by local volunteers has been placed on a strict diet and exercise regime. Weighing in at 2.2kg, almost double the size of a normal, healthy hedgehog, the animal was handed in to rescue volunteers last month. Named Garfield after the lazy tabby cat cartoon character, she was found in Pietà, unable to walk and with bleeding hind legs. Angelique Lofaro, of the NGO Wildlife Rescue Team, said: “Garfield is an extremely rare case, we have never seen anything like her before.” Lofaro said it was the biggest hedgehog they had ever rescued and just 100 grams lighter than Arbuckle, a hedgehog that was found in Scotland in 2018 and was at the time considered the world’s heaviest. The average weight of a healthy North African adult hedgehog, the species found in Malta, is about 800g. “When I first got her, she couldn’t even walk, she was so large,” Lofaro told Times of Malta. A photo of Garfield when she was rescued. “Her hind legs couldn’t hold her weight, so she would drag herself, and her back legs would be dragged underneath her body, which ended up being bruised and bleeding. Her injuries were also infected when we found her.” Over the past few weeks,...
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