New report reveals hedgehogs have declined by between 30% - 75% across different areas of the countryside since 2000, but are stabilising in urban areas
Today, [Tuesday 22nd February 2022], a new report published by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) has revealed that Britain’s hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) populations have continued to decline in rural areas by between 30% and 75% nationally since 2000. The largest declines are seen in the eastern half of England.
In stark contrast, the charities’ State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report also shows that urban hedgehog populations appear to have stablised and might even be starting to recover, after previously falling.
Data collected for this report between 1981 and 2020 from five ongoing surveys showed that hedgehogs have undergone a long historic decline, but now the vast differences between urban and rural populations are becoming increasingly apparent.
Hedgehogs in the rural landscape: The data showed that between 30% and 75% of rural hedgehogs have been lost nationally since 2000. Numbers have plummeted across the countryside, but the declines vary in different regions, with the most apparent in the East Midlands and the East of England regions. However, more research is desperately needed to confirm this and to get a more precise measure of how hedgehogs are faring across the country.
David Wembridge, Mammal Surveys Coordinator at PTES, says: “Loss of landscape features such as hedgerows is partly responsible for the decline, but not fully, as recent efforts have been made to restore and improve them. We know from research, funded by PTES, BHPS and others over the last decade, that hedgehogs prefer villages to open farmland, and follow field margins and hedgerows. Understanding how hedgehogs use and move through the landscape is a big step forward, but more work is needed.”
Hedgehogs in the urban landscape: The picture in our cities, towns and villages is more positive, with the data showing no indication of the decline continuing. Despite road mortality being highest around urban areas, gardens (with the right features) and other green spaces are thought to be a refuge for hedgehogs from pressures in the wider landscape – but only if they’re connected.
Read the full State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report here.
Read the full press release (PDF) here.
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Posted On: 22/02/2022