Hedgehogs face welfare challenges both as companion animals in countries where they are kept as pets and in the wild, where populations are declining significantly.
Hedgehog welfare operates on two tracks that rarely intersect in public discussion. As wild animals, hedgehogs face population decline driven by habitat loss, pesticide-killed prey, and road mortality. As companion animals, hedgehogs kept in inadequate conditions — without exercise wheels, appropriate temperature ranges, and enrichment — suffer from obesity, stereotypy, and shortened lives. Both tracks reflect failures to consider hedgehog biology and needs seriously. Wild hedgehog decline can be reversed through garden-level habitat management; companion hedgehog welfare can be improved through better husbandry standards and, in some cases, reconsideration of whether hedgehogs are appropriate pets at all.