Wild Hedgehog Decline: Garden Habitat and Winter Survival

How garden habitat loss and fragmentation is driving hedgehog population decline and what individuals can do to help.

Key Facts

UK hedgehog populations have fallen by over 50% since 2000 — from approximately 1.5 million to under 700,000
Garden boundary fences and walls that prevent movement are a primary cause of urban hedgehog decline
Hedgehogs travel up to 2km per night foraging — they require access to networks of connected gardens
Slug pellets containing metaldehyde have been banned in the UK following evidence of hedgehog and bird poisoning
Bonfire and compost heap disturbance kills hibernating hedgehogs — they use these structures as winter nest sites
Road mortality, garden strimmers, drowning in garden ponds and secondary poisoning are leading causes of hedgehog death

Welfare Considerations

Hedgehog decline represents a welfare crisis playing out garden by garden across the UK. Individual hedgehogs that survive the gauntlet of roads, fences and poisoned slugs in fragmented habitats are chronically nutritionally stressed — spending more energy on movement than they can replenish from an impoverished suburban invertebrate community. A hedgehog too thin to hibernate safely will attempt hibernation regardless and die of cold and starvation through the winter. The welfare connection between habitat quality and individual animal survival is direct and clear: a hedgehog with access to a network of connected, pesticide-free gardens with prey availability and hibernation sites has a fundamentally different welfare trajectory from one isolated in a single fenced garden.

What You Can Do

Cut a 13cm x 13cm hole in the base of garden fences to allow hedgehog movement between gardens — coordinate with neighbours
Stop using metaldehyde or methiocarb slug pellets — use wool pellets, copper tape or encourage natural predators instead
Provide supplementary food (wet cat or dog food, specialist hedgehog food) at a consistent feeding station from September
Check compost heaps, leaf piles and bonfire stacks before disturbing them — particularly in autumn and winter
Cover garden ponds with wire mesh or provide a ramp exit so hedgehogs can escape if they fall in
Record hedgehog sightings through the PTES Big Hedgehog Map — population monitoring data guides conservation planning