Are hedgehogs endangered in the UK?
Hedgehogs are officially classed as “vulnerable to extinction” in the UK. According to the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, hedgehogs have declined by between 30% – 75% across different areas of the countryside since 2000.
Why are hedgehogs endangered?
Hedgehogs roam up to a mile per night in search of food, meaning they need unfettered access to a lot of land. Unfortunately modern Britain’s rural areas are sectioned and fragmented, and littered with hazards for hedgehogs – from roads to fences to netting.
Here at the rescue we see a lot of entanglement cases – hedgehogs stuck in sports nets or pipes for example – and also many road injuries. Hedgehogs’ natural form of defence is to roll into a ball – effective against their natural predators, but not so much a car.
How can we all help hedgehogs?
Our mission at Prickles and Paws is to reverse the trend of hedgehog endangerment through a combination of our rescue and emergency care service coupled with education and research.
Our mission is:
· To provide a service of rescue, emergency care, rehabilitation and release for native British hedgehogs in Cornwall and the Southwest
· To inspire learning and conservation through improving the knowledge and understanding of hedgehogs for the general public through educational workshops and online engagement
· To continue research into wildlife care and rehabilitation to promote continued improvements in service provision and offer a knowledge base for the public and professionals
We can all help hedgehogs by increasing safe access to land (via hedgehog highways for example); removing hedgehog hazards (by raising sports nets off the ground, putting ramps in garden ponds and using hedgehog-safe garden chemicals); and by providing safe and insect rich habitats – in other words, letting your garden, or at least part of it, grow wild and free!
A hedgehog hospital for the future
We know that our work is gradually helping to significantly reverse this trend in Cornwall. Our rescue may be small – we are currently operating out of a residential building g and garden – but we are mighty. We know that we are having a positive impact on one of Britain's much-loved species, however we also know that we could help so many more hedgehogs, and increase public education about hedgehog care and the environment, with a proper building complete with veterinary treatment rooms, education rooms, and a much-needed staff room.
In 2023 we began fundraising for a new Hogspital (hedgehog hospital), in order to be able to help more endangered hedgehogs in Cornwall, and to do so from better facilities than our current residential base.
We are currently 65% of our way to our fundraising target to build our new Hogspital. If you would like to support our work with a one off donation or regular monthly giving, you can do so here.
Thank you – from us and our prickly patients!