European hedgehog populations have declined by over a third in the UK since 2000. Garden hazards, road mortality, and habitat loss cause significant welfare harms to these beloved nocturnal mammals.
Hedgehog welfare harms in human-modified landscapes are numerous and frequently preventable. Strimmer injuries are common and severe — hedgehogs curl into defensive balls when disturbed, and are then lacerated by strimmers that pass over them in long grass. Checking grass before strimming prevents this. Bonfires constructed in advance and then lit without checking can incinerate hedgehogs sheltering in the pile. Drowning in ponds with no exit ramps is a regular cause of hedgehog death. Slug pellet poisoning causes prolonged and painful death. Garden fences without hedgehog holes fragment habitat and prevent hedgehogs from ranging widely enough to find food and mates. The accumulated effect of these hazards across millions of gardens creates population-level welfare pressure.