Why Are Hedgehogs Declining in the UK? Causes and Numbers

How fast are hedgehogs declining?

The European hedgehog was once a common sight across rural Britain. Long-running surveys run by conservation charities and ornithologists, including counts of hedgehogs killed on roads and sightings in gardens, show a long, steep fall.

The 2022 report found the steepest rural declines in the eastern half of England. The most recent population estimate for England, Scotland and Wales, from 2018, is about 879,000 hedgehogs, with roughly a quarter living in urban areas. That figure carries a lot of uncertainty, and a national monitoring program has been set up to produce more reliable counts.

Why are rural hedgehogs disappearing?

No single cause explains the decline. Instead, several pressures act together on hedgehogs living in farmland.

• Loss of hedgerows and rough ground: since the mid 20th century, many hedgerows, field margins and patches of scrub have been removed or cut back to make larger fields. These are the hedgehog’s main nesting sites and travel corridors.
• Fewer invertebrates: intensive farming, pesticides and the loss of permanent grassland reduce the beetles, caterpillars and earthworms that hedgehogs eat. Less food means fewer young survive their first winter.
• Bigger, more open fields: hedgehogs avoid crossing large open spaces, where they are exposed to predators, so intensively farmed land can become almost empty of them.
• Isolation: as populations shrink and become separated, local groups can die out and are not replaced by animals from elsewhere.

Do roads kill many hedgehogs?

Yes. Road traffic is one of the most visible causes of hedgehog deaths in Europe. Hedgehogs roam widely at night, often 1–2 km (0.6–1.2 miles), and males in the breeding season can travel up to 3 km (1.9 miles), crossing roads as they go. Their defense of rolling into a ball offers no protection against vehicles.

A study of dead hedgehogs collected in Denmark found that more than half of those whose age could be measured had been killed on roads, most of them males in the summer breeding season. Roads also act as barriers that split populations into smaller, more vulnerable groups. Read more in how long do hedgehogs live?

What role do badgers play?

The European badger is the main natural predator of adult hedgehogs in Britain. Badgers can unroll a curled hedgehog, and they also compete with hedgehogs for earthworms and large beetles. Studies of British farmland have found that hedgehogs are often scarce or absent where badgers are abundant.

Badger numbers in Britain rose substantially in the late 20th century, and this has probably added to the pressure on rural hedgehogs. However, badgers and hedgehogs lived alongside each other for thousands of years, and hedgehogs have also declined in areas with few badgers. Most scientists see badgers as one part of a wider problem, made worse when hedgerows and shelter disappear and hedgehogs have nowhere to hide.

Why are urban hedgehogs doing better?

Towns and suburbs can be surprisingly good habitat. Gardens, parks, allotments and cemeteries offer a mix of lawns for feeding and dense shrubs, compost heaps and sheds for nesting. Badgers are usually less common in built-up areas, and many people leave out water or wild corners for wildlife.

Urban hedgehogs still face problems. Solid fences and walls stop them moving between gardens, which matters because a hedgehog needs a large area to find food and mates. Garden hazards such as strimmers, netting, uncovered drains and steep-sided ponds injure or trap many each year, and roads remain a major cause of death.

What is being done to help hedgehogs?

Conservation efforts in Britain focus on connecting habitat and improving it, both in towns and on farms.

• Hedgehog Street: a campaign launched in 2011 by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Well over 100,000 volunteers have signed up as “Hedgehog Champions”.
• Hedgehog highways: small gaps of about 13 by 13 cm (5 by 5 in) in fences and walls that link gardens together.
• Farmland measures: keeping and restoring hedgerows, wide field margins and areas of rough grassland.
• Monitoring: long-running surveys and the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme track how populations change.
• Legal protection: the hedgehog is a priority species for conservation in the UK and is protected under the Bern Convention on European wildlife.

Is the hedgehog endangered?

Not yet, but its status has worsened. On the national Red List for British mammals, the hedgehog is classed as Vulnerable, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in Britain if trends continue. Worldwide, the IUCN moved the European hedgehog from Least Concern to Near Threatened in 2024, after finding evidence of declines in many of the countries where it lives. Hedgehogs are also a familiar part of wild mammals of the UK that people can still help by keeping gardens connected and wildlife-friendly.