Wild Hedgehog Decline and Garden Conservation

UK hedgehog populations have declined by around 50% since 2000, and garden habitats are increasingly important refuges for this beloved but struggling species.

Key Facts

UK hedgehog populations have fallen from an estimated 36 million in the 1950s to under 1 million today
Road mortality, agricultural intensification, and garden fragmentation are primary decline drivers
Hedgehogs require territories of 20-100 hectares and cannot survive in isolated garden patches
Hedgehog highways - 13cm gaps in fences - allow gardens to form connected habitat networks
Hedgehogs are insectivores and benefit from gardens avoiding pesticide use that reduces invertebrate prey

Welfare Considerations

Declining hedgehog populations represent a welfare crisis at population scale - millions of animals struggling to find food, mates, and safe hibernation sites in increasingly fragmented landscapes. Individual welfare concerns include road casualties, entanglement in garden netting, drowning in ponds, and strimmer injuries. Deliberate persecution through poison baiting occurs in some areas. Garden management choices collectively have significant impact - connected, wildlife-friendly gardens with invertebrate-rich habitats support thriving hedgehog populations. Every garden that creates a hedgehog highway and removes pesticides contributes meaningfully to hedgehog welfare.

What You Can Do

Create a hedgehog highway by cutting a 13cm gap in your garden fence
Stop using slug pellets and pesticides - these reduce hedgehog food sources
Check compost heaps and leaf piles before disturbing - hedgehogs hibernate in these
Register your hedgehog highway with Hedgehog Street to map connected habitat networks
Report hedgehog sightings to the Big Hedgehog Map to support population monitoring