Hedgehog Welfare in Gardens and Urban Areas

British hedgehog populations have fallen by a third since the year 2000. Helping hedgehogs in gardens is one of the most direct ways individuals can improve wild animal welfare.

Key Facts

Hedgehog numbers in Britain have declined from 30 million in the 1950s to under 1 million today
Road traffic kills an estimated 100,000-300,000 hedgehogs annually in Britain
Garden hazards include strimmers, slug pellets (metaldehyde and ferric phosphate), bonfires, and ponds
Hedgehogs travel up to 2km per night foraging - garden fences fragment their territory fatally
Hedgehog highway gaps (13x13cm holes in fences) allow safe movement between gardens
Suburban hedgehog populations are now declining faster than rural ones

Welfare Considerations

Hedgehogs are insectivores with complex nightly ranging behaviour. Urban and suburban gardens can be both a refuge and a trap. Individual welfare harms are significant: hedgehogs caught in pond netting, entangled in loose netting, burned in bonfires, or poisoned by garden chemicals all suffer painful deaths. At population level, the cumulative effect of millions of fragmented gardens is catastrophic. Simple garden modifications - hedgehog highways, removing netting, checking bonfires, using wildlife-safe slug control - can each prevent multiple hedgehog deaths per year. These are among the most cost-effective individual wildlife welfare interventions available.

What You Can Do

Install a 13x13cm hedgehog highway gap in garden fences and encourage neighbours to do the same
Remove loose netting and pond ramps to prevent entanglement and drowning
Check bonfires immediately before lighting for sheltering hedgehogs
Switch to wildlife-safe slug control: ferric phosphate pellets, copper tape, or biological nematodes
Register your hedgehog highway with Hedgehog Street to join the national network