Hedgehog Resources
Worried About a Hedgehog?
The BHPS, British Hedgehog Preservation Society, offers help and advice to those with sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs and maintains a list of rehabilitators in the UK.
The BHPS is a registered UK Charity dedicated to helping & protecting hedgehogs native to the UK. Through their campaigns, advocacy and educational projects they work to raise awareness of the practical steps we can take to help reverse the decline of hedgehogs in the wild, improve their welfare and safeguard the future of this much-loved animal.
They also fund research that provides important new insights into the conservation and welfare of hedgehogs.
Map Your Hedgehog Hole
Pledge to make a hole for Hedgehog, then map Hedgehog’s hole on Britain’s National Network for Hedgehogs, the BIG Hedgehog Map.
Launched by the Hedgehog Street campaign, a national conservation project by PTES & BHPS aimed at Britain’s declining Hedgehog, it aims to provide a central hub for records of hedgehogs (dead or alive) and encourage people to help hedgehogs by providing access to their gardens. By hosting a national network of hedgehog highways the project hopes to allow hedgehogs to move freely between gardens - one of the current reasons for decline.
Have you seen Hedgehog? Report your sighting here!
Build a Home for Hedgehog
In Britain, Hedgehog hibernates in the winter. A ‘hedgehog house’ is a great way to provide shelter and somewhere to hibernate. It also gives protection from predators and a safe space to raise young.
There are lots of different options available for housing hedgehogs; pine house, wooden slatted house, fibrewood house, log house, mud house, wicker house, igloo, hogilo, brick and slab, no base, with base, with or without entrance tunnel, basic, bespoke, single, double - the list goes on!
So, how 'do' you choose Hedgehog’s next home?
You will find a really simple plan here, using basic materials that won’t break the bank.
School, College or University?
Are you a Primary School, FE College or University?
Hedgehog Friendly Campus gives awards to these UK educational establishments for completing actions from their hedgehog-friendly toolkit.
By participating, you will be helping to protect hedgehogs, enhance their habitat and also educating others on how they can help.
Both, students and staff, can get involved!
Hedgehog Decline
Although stabilising in urban areas, a new report reveals that hedgehogs have declined by between 30% – 75% across different areas of the countryside since 2000.
Research has shown that hedgehogs prefer villages, to open farmland, following field margins and hedgerows. An estimated half of Britain’s hedgerows were lost in the second half of the century. Efforts have been made to improve hedgerows but much more can be done to improve field margins, the abundance of invertebrates, and connectivity.
Britain's Red List for Mammals
In 2020 the first official Red List for British Mammals was compiled by the Mammal Society for Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
It shows that a quarter of mammals native to Britain are classified as being at imminent risk of extinction. Hedgehog is on this list.
Britain is one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world.