Hedgehog highway networks connect fragmented garden habitats, enabling hedgehogs to forage, breed, and find mates. They are one of the most scalable urban wildlife welfare interventions.
Hedgehog highway networks are a rare example of a large-scale, low-cost, high-impact animal welfare intervention. The welfare harm they address - hedgehogs trapped in isolated garden patches unable to find adequate food, mates, or nesting sites - is real and measurable. The solution - a 13cm gap in a fence - costs almost nothing and requires minimal effort. The scalability is extraordinary: tens of thousands of hedgehog highways created by individual households combine to create wildlife corridors across entire neighbourhoods. The challenge is coordination - a single gap is useful, but a connected network transforms the welfare landscape. Platforms like Hedgehog Street and Big Hedgehog Map enable community coordination that maximises welfare impact.