The honest numbers
How we know hedgehogs are declining, what the figures say, and what’s being done.
Status
| List | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Red List for Britain’s Mammals (2020): GB, England, Scotland, Wales | Vulnerable | Mammal Society |
| IUCN global Red List (since October 2024) | Near Threatened | IUCN |
| UK law | Protected; priority species | Mammal Society |
| Isle of Man law | Listed in Schedule 6, Wildlife Act 1990 | legislation.gov.im |
In October 2024 the IUCN moved the European hedgehog from Least Concern to Near Threatened globally. IUCN The IUCN estimated national declines of 16–33% over ten years, and local declines of up to 50% in Bavaria and Flanders. IUCN
Britain
State of Britain's Hedgehogs 2022: rural hedgehogs have declined by between 30% and 75% since 2000; urban populations appear to be stabilising. PTES
PTES and BHPS have published State of Britain's Hedgehogs reports in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2022. Hedgehog Street
A 2018 estimate put the population of England, Scotland and Wales at about 879,000 hedgehogs. Hedgehog Street An earlier 1995 estimate was 1.55 million in Great Britain — itself very uncertain. source Counting a nocturnal animal that hides in hedges is genuinely hard, so treat any single population figure with care. The trends from repeated surveys are more telling than any one number.
Why?
There isn’t one villain. The IUCN blames increasing human pressures, particularly the degradation of rural habitats by agricultural intensification, roads and urban development. IUCN Hundreds of thousands of hedgehogs are killed on British roads every year (Mammal Society). Mammal Society Fenced-off gardens don’t help either, which is where you come in.
What’s being done
Hedgehog Street is a joint PTES/BHPS campaign recruiting volunteer "Hedgehog Champions" to make gardens hedgehog-friendly. source Hedgehogs are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and are a priority species. Mammal Society
And everyone can help. See the hedgehog-friendly garden.
Elsewhere
Settlers introduced European hedgehogs to New Zealand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; there they are an invasive species. source The same animal, in the wrong place, is a problem rather than a treasure.
