Hedgehog Road Mortality and Wildlife Crossing Design

Hedgehog populations are being severed by roads and garden fences, with coordinated landscape-scale interventions required to maintain connectivity for their extensive nightly movements.

Key Facts

Hedgehogs travel 1 to 2 kilometers per night, crossing multiple properties and roads
UK road kills are estimated at hundreds of thousands of hedgehogs annually
Garden fences without gaps completely prevent hedgehog movement through residential areas
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society champions the hedgehog highway concept of connected 13cm fence gaps
Coordinated neighbourhood hedgehog highway schemes have been established in hundreds of UK communities

Welfare Considerations

Road-killed hedgehogs experience traumatic death, but the fence-fragmentation effect creates longer-term welfare harm through reduced foraging range, mate access, and ability to find overwintering sites. Hedgehogs denied connectivity to adequate food resources face chronic nutritional stress, particularly important for juveniles needing to achieve sufficient weight before hibernation. The collective action problem of needing neighbouring gardens to all participate in hedgehog highway schemes requires community coordination tools and municipal promotion to achieve meaningful connectivity at scale.

What You Can Do

Cut a 13cm hole in the base of garden fences to create hedgehog highways
Coordinate with neighbours through the British Hedgehog Preservation Society hole scheme
Avoid strimmers and garden forks in areas where hedgehogs may be resting
Survey your garden for hedgehog presence and record sightings on citizen science platforms