AT least half the population of native hedgehogs has been lost from the British countryside over the last two decades, warn two wildlife charities.
The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018, published jointly by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), is the only comprehensive review of the status of Britain’s hedgehogs.
This new report shows that hedgehogs in rural areas are in severe decline, with their numbers halving since the Millennium.
However while the report highlights a worrying decline in the countryside, it shows a more positive outlook for hedgehogs in towns and cities: although the species has declined by a third in urban areas since 2000, the rate of decline is slowing.
Hedgehogs are not disappearing from urban green spaces as rapidly as they were fifteen years ago, and might even be returning. Where they are found, numbers too, appear to be growing in some places.
To join ‘Hedgehog Street’ and make your garden more hedgehog-friendly www.hedgehogstreet.org.
