The garden ‘highways’ that could save our hedgehogs
WE WERE saddened but not surprised to read hedgehog populations are plummeting (Mail) and that they have been added to the Red List of threatened species as ‘vulnerable’. We have been reporting similar declines in our ‘State of Britain’s Hedgehogs’ reports, published with People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), for some years, most recently this January. However, that report does offer a glimmer of hope in that urban population decline appears to be slowing. This could be attributed to simple actions, taken by gardeners and home owners, across the country having been made aware of the problems hedgehogs are facing through campaigns such as Hedgehog Street, our partnership project with PTES. Like many of the species in decline, a major problem that hedgehogs face is loss and fragmentation of habitat. There are also traps being sold in this country — probably for catching rats — that could certainly kill our hedgehogs. It is illegal to kill a British hedgehog deliberately, and we would like to see such traps outlawed. There are pockets of land that are wonderful for hedgehogs — but they must join up with other pockets if a population there is to be sustainable. Connectivity is key! Hedgehog Street has been asking people to create hedgehog highways across the country, a CD case-size gap at the bottom of boundary walls and fences could join up valuable habitat. Let’s build on that glimmer of hope and pull our hedgehogs back from the brink.