European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew is widespread and common, and there are not considered to be any significant threats at present. Consequently, it is evaluated as Least Concern for both Europe and the EU 27 Member States.

The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus) occurs from the British Isles and Iberia through much of continental Europe to European Russia. The northernmost limit of its range extends beyond the arctic circle. It occurs from sea level to 2,000 m in the Pyrenees (Palomo and Gisbert 2002) and 2,445 m in the French Alps (Poitevin and Quéré 2011).

Outside of the assessment region, this species has been recorded in Siberia and South Asia.

It is a common species in suitable habitats throughout its range, though is rarely the dominant shrew species. It is thought to be more abundant in Europe than outside of this region (Mittermeier and Wilson 2018). The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew occurs at a relatively low density in a wide range of habitats with adequate ground cover (Churchfield and Searle 2008). In Great Britain, the population has been estimated to stand at 6.3 million individuals, though supporting data are lacking (Mathews et al. 2018).

It tends to be found in relatively damp areas with dense vegetation at ground level, and it occurs in a wide variety of habitats including swamps, grasslands, heaths, sand dunes, woodland edge, rocky areas, shrubland, and montane forests. Occupancy has been recorded to be higher in hedgerow sites than grassland or woodland areas (Pocock and Bell 2011). In recent years, evidence has also suggested that the Eurasian Pygmy Shrew may shelter and forage indoors in residential areas (Ware et al. 2020). It feeds on invertebrates (Hutterer 1990, 1999) and can occupy a home range as large as 2,146 m² (Kollars 1995). The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew is solitary and lifespan does not exceed 15 months (Mittermeier and Wilson 2018).

Like most shrews, it is likely to be impacted by habitat destruction, the use of pesticides and declining invertebrate prey availability. However, these are not considered to be major threats to the global or European regional persistence of the species at present. The apparent geographic isolation of some Iberian populations may make local extinctions more likely (Palomo and Gisbert 2002).

This species is not utilised or traded.

It is listed on Appendix III of the Bern Convention. It occurs in a number of protected areas throughout its wide range. Studies of its ecology and distribution are required in Portugal (Cabral et al. 2005), and isolated Iberian populations should be monitored.