The European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) is a species of hamster native to grasslands and agricultural areas across Eurasia, from Belgium and eastern France to Russia and western China. The largest living hamster species, it can reach 30 centimetres (12in) in body length and has brown, black and white fur. It lives in underground burrows, where it stores food gathered in its expandable cheek pouches, and hibernates during winter. Once widespread and regarded as an agricultural pest, the European hamster has undergone a dramatic population decline, with intensive farming, habitat loss and persecution among possible causes. It has been classified as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2020. This European hamster was photographed in a cemetery in Meidling, in Vienna, Austria.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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