Britain鈥檚 hedgehogs are in a prickly situation. Meet their rescuers.
Hugh Warwick, author and activist on hedgehogs, has collected over a million signatures calling for the British government to introduce legislation to require planners and construction companies to create 鈥渉edgehog highways鈥� for safe travel between homes.
Courtesy of Hugh Warwick
Sheffield, England
Jo Wilkinson realized she was losing her students鈥� attention, so she turned to an old friend: the hedgehog.
As a sustainability and engagement officer at Britain鈥檚 University of Sheffield, she wanted to rally students around sustainable foods and energy conservation. But it could be hard to hold students鈥� interest. That was until she proposed building a 鈥渉edgehog safari鈥� trail on campus. Soon, her fun distraction became a campuswide campaign.
鈥淚 recognized straightaway that hedgehogs captured everyone鈥檚 imagination,鈥� says Ms. Wilkinson. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something about them that does that to people.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Britain loves its hedgehogs, but as their habitat is developed over, their numbers are dwindling. Fortunately, hedgehog lovers across the country are finding ways to make life better for the tiny garden dwellers.
Her effort to expand hedgehog habitats at Sheffield earned British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) funding in 2019. That鈥檚 when she started thinking about how she could help hedgehogs thrive at university campuses across the United Kingdom. Within 18 months, she had a fully funded national project that has certified 110 鈥渉edgehog-friendly鈥� campuses across the country.
鈥淚鈥檝e always dreamt of a job where I鈥檓 passionate about what I鈥檓 doing. There鈥檚 nothing in the world I鈥檓 more passionate about,鈥� says Ms. Wilkinson. 鈥淐ampaigns to save hedgehogs are all about the joy volunteers are getting.鈥�
An icon under siege
Britain鈥檚 hedgehogs need all the help they can get. The country鈥檚 鈥渞ed lists鈥� categorize species based on how threatened they are. Hedgehogs joined the lists in 2020, officially classified as vulnerable to extinction. But advocates and organizations like Ms. Wilkinson and BHPS, which maintains her Hedgehog Friendly Campus accreditation program, are working to save the iconic British garden dweller.
Researchers estimate there were about 1.5 million hedgehogs across England, Scotland, and Wales collectively in the mid-1990s. The population size is difficult to keep track of, but studies show that British hedgehog numbers in rural areas have declined by 50% since 2000, though in cities and towns the decline is closer to 30%.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as if hedgehogs are moving out and doing the opposite of humans,鈥� says Ms. Wilkinson. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e moving into towns and cities because perhaps those places are providing them a bit of a refuge.鈥�
Hedgehogs tend to follow people, she says, and have found that they can scavenge on cat and dog food in gardens. Compared with the countryside, urban areas can offer 鈥減laces of refuge where they鈥檙e less exposed,鈥� she says.
That鈥檚 become more valuable as rural areas have lost wildflowers, bramble patches, and leaf and log piles in the countryside. Pesticides from intensive, modern farming practices and 鈥渉abitat fragmentation鈥� 鈥� the 鈥渃hopping up鈥� of Britain鈥檚 landscape into smaller pieces 鈥� have added to the rural challenges facing hedgehogs, says Hugh Warwick, author of four books dedicated to the spiky critters.
The self-dubbed hedgehog connoisseur leads the fight in finding solutions to the destruction of hedgehog habitats due to 鈥渕anicured gardens.鈥� From his garden shed in Oxford, Mr. Warwick has drummed up over a million signatures for a petition calling for British planning law requiring all new developments to include 鈥渉edgehog highways鈥�: holes to allow hedgehogs to move freely between gardens.
Mr. Warwick 鈥� once described by a British politician as the 鈥淟orax of hedgehogs鈥� in reference to Dr. Seuss鈥� literary character who 鈥渟peaks for the trees鈥� and fights suburban development 鈥� has managed to convince the government to change planning law guidance through his petition and online campaigning. 鈥淏ut I want more. I want it to be set in stone, to be not just a 鈥榥ice to have鈥� but a 鈥榤ust have.鈥欌��
Bovis Homes and Taylor Wimpey, two of Britain鈥檚 biggest house-building companies, have already signed onto the idea of incorporating hedgehog highways because of its popularity.
鈥淏usinesses are ignoring what鈥檚 coming from the government; they鈥檙e doing it themselves because it鈥檚 the right thing to do,鈥� says Mr. Warwick.
The nearby hamlet of Kirtlington has already devised a hedgehog highway featuring eccentric holes, miniature stairs, and knocked-down walls that knit gardens together. Villagers took a map of the hamlet and spent time working out the minimum number of holes to connect a maximum number of gardens. A map of the hedgehog highway helps tourists trace the paths of the tiny inhabitants.
鈥淭he communities have banded together to connect it to hedgehogs, and each other,鈥� says Mr. Warwick.
Remaking the landscape
Recognizing the threat toward one of the U.K.鈥檚 favorite creatures is an opportunity for people to reconnect with their surroundings.
For Ryan Wallace, sustainability officer at the University of London, which is part of the Hedgehog Friendly Campus initiative, that means ensuring hedgehogs thrive in the most unlikely of places: central London. Though surrounded by Regency-era houses and within walking distance of busy tourist attractions, the public squares of Bloomsbury offer overgrown bushes and ample foliage. That makes them 鈥� and the neighboring university 鈥� fertile ground for hedgehogs, though none were seen last year.
鈥淭hey can travel up to 2 miles through the streets of London,鈥� says Mr. Wallace, pointing to the thin, black Victorian-era fences that they scuttle through at night. 鈥淗edgehogs have loads of benefits people don鈥檛 realize. They keep the slug population down, and they鈥檙e natural pest killers,鈥� he says. They鈥檙e also a good indicator of how well the natural environment is doing.
Rewilding green spaces can give hedgehogs a better chance of thriving. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a space in your garden where you can let the weeds grow, do that and stop cutting the grass,鈥� says Ms. Wilkinson. 鈥淟et nature be nature.鈥� Convincing university gardeners and grounds staff to avoid pulling brambles or mowing grass can be tricky. 鈥淭he easiest sell for them is that it鈥檚 less work!鈥� she says.
Greenery isn鈥檛 so hard to come by 125 miles away, in the green spaces of Nottingham Trent University, a 鈥渂ronze-winning鈥� Hedgehog Friendly Campus. Wildflowers, ponds that collect rainwater that washes off of student housing, and a nature trail surround the Clifton campus, 4 miles from Nottingham city center.
Sarah Robertson, the school鈥檚 sustainable development projects officer, has plans to add special hedgehog accommodations like ramps to provide safe exit from ponds. 鈥淭hey can swim really well, but they get tired,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f they can鈥檛 climb out, they鈥檒l get into trouble.鈥�
She wants to get individuals thinking 鈥渂eyond their comfort zones鈥� by asking construction services to incorporate the right plants and convincing sports teams to lift netting to ensure hedgehogs don鈥檛 get caught up.
For many advocates, hedgehog conservation isn鈥檛 just about the survival of a species. It鈥檚 a chance to connect with bigger environmental issues such as climate change.
鈥淵ou can start with hedgehogs, because that doesn鈥檛 scare people off. Everybody has an anecdote about a hedgehog. That can provide a springboard into the most serious ecological conversations,鈥� says Mr. Warwick. 鈥淭here鈥檚 that capacity to bring people together because it鈥檚 an animal that doesn鈥檛 provoke a negative response.鈥�
Ms. Wilkinson agrees, pulled not just by the science, but by the emotional lure of hedgehogs.
鈥淭hey are ridiculously cute. That鈥檚 the basis of it.鈥�