Wild Hedgehog Population Decline and Recovery

UK hedgehog populations have declined by up to 50% since the 1990s, with multiple interacting causes creating a welfare challenge at both population and individual animal levels.

Key Facts

UK hedgehog populations have fallen from an estimated 36 million in the 1950s to under 1 million today
Major causes include agricultural intensification, road casualties, habitat loss, predation changes, and garden management practices
Hedgehogs are legally protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 - it is illegal to trap without licence
Road mortality is the most significant cause of death - hedgehogs cross roads regularly during their nightly 1-2 km foraging range
Slug pellets containing metaldehyde have been linked to hedgehog mortality and were banned in the UK in 2022
Garden connectivity - hedgehog gaps in fences between gardens - is a critical intervention that individuals can make

Welfare Considerations

Hedgehog welfare operates across two interconnected levels: population welfare (the long-term survival of the species) and individual welfare (the suffering experienced by individual hedgehogs due to road strikes, poisoning, entanglement in netting, and strimmer injuries). Recovery requires interventions at both levels - landscape-scale changes to reduce road mortality and habitat fragmentation, and individual garden management changes that reduce direct mortality risks. The 'hedgehog highway' concept - cutting 13cm gaps in garden fences to allow hedgehog movement - is one of the most accessible and effective individual-level conservation actions available.

What You Can Do

Cut a 13cm gap in your garden fence to allow hedgehog movement between gardens
Check garden compost heaps and bonfires before disturbing them, as hedgehogs rest in them
Avoid using slug pellets and garden chemicals that harm hedgehogs and their prey
Report hedgehog sightings to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to support monitoring