Wild Hedgehog Welfare and Garden Support

Hedgehog populations have declined dramatically in the UK and across Europe. Gardens can provide essential habitat and welfare support for this iconic but threatened species.

Key Facts

UK hedgehog populations have declined by approximately 50% since 2000, driven by habitat loss, road mortality, and agricultural intensification
Garden hedgehogs face welfare threats from slug pellets, pesticides, strimmers, and garden ponds without escape routes
Hedgehog highways — small gaps cut into garden fences — enable hedgehogs to roam the connected areas needed to find food and mates
Log piles, leaf piles, and wild corners provide essential nesting and hibernation habitat within gardens
Road mortality is a major cause of hedgehog death; wildlife-sensitive road design including culverts can reduce casualties
Poorly timed garden tidying in autumn and spring destroys hibernating hedgehogs — timing garden work to avoid these periods is a simple welfare intervention

Welfare Considerations

Hedgehog welfare is an area where individual garden actions aggregate into population-level outcomes. The 47 million gardens in the UK collectively represent an enormous potential habitat network for hedgehogs — or an obstacle course, depending on how they are managed. Removing barriers between gardens, eliminating pesticides and slug pellets, providing food and water, and avoiding habitat destruction during nesting and hibernation periods can make a meaningful difference to hedgehog survival and welfare. The connection between individual garden choices and population outcomes is unusually direct for a wildlife welfare issue.

What You Can Do

Create a hedgehog highway — a 13cm gap at the base of your garden fence — and register it on the Big Hedgehog Map
Provide food (meat-based wet cat food or specialist hedgehog food) and fresh water in your garden, particularly in dry summers
Eliminate slug pellets and pesticides from your garden — they poison hedgehogs directly and reduce their food supply
Check for hedgehogs before strimming, mowing, or disturbing leaf piles, particularly in autumn and spring