Hedgehogs are beloved garden visitors across Europe but face dramatic population decline from habitat fragmentation, garden hazards, and agricultural intensification. Individual welfare and population conservation are closely linked.
Hedgehog welfare in urban and suburban environments is largely shaped by human garden management. Hedgehogs caught in garden netting experience panic, struggle until exhaustion, and die from exposure or starvation if not found quickly. Strimmer injuries cause traumatic wounds that may be fatal or require extensive veterinary care. Ponds without escape ramps drown hedgehogs that fall in during nocturnal foraging. Garden bonfires built in autumn can conceal hibernating hedgehogs that are burned alive when lit. Each of these welfare harms is entirely preventable through simple behavioral changes by gardeners. The welfare improvement achievable through hedgehog-friendly gardening is one of the most accessible and direct actions individuals can take for wildlife welfare.