As if Britain didn’t have enough to worry about, now the nation of gardeners and animal lovers is troubled by this news. According to the latest figures, the population of hedgehogs on the islands has shrunk by 75 percent since 2000, and the figure is 8.3 percent less each year. In 2018 there were still around 880,000 hedgehogs living in Great Britain. According to a report just published, the sharpest declines are in the east of England. In the cities, the decline that has been discussed and fought for years could be stopped, but not in the countryside.
The legendary stock in the royal Regent’s Park in the City of London is also a cause for concern. 30 to 40 isolated hedgehogs live there, actually not enough for a population that is sure of survival. The animals are counted meticulously and laboriously twice a year by up to 200 volunteer “Hedgehog Heroes” with thermal imaging cameras. The Hedgehog Empire should not waver and not fall.
The summer has been dry for too long, so now hedgehogs can’t find enough food. The result: many young hedgehogs are malnourished and need help. You can find out here who is helping them and how you can help yourself.
Source: WELT/ Peter Haentjes
In Germany the situation is not much better, the downward trend is the same. “We are actually only ten years behind the English,” says Anne Berger from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. Above all, there is hardly any comparative data in this country, and one of the few long-term studies is an evaluation from Bavaria. On the B12 between Munich and the Inn Valley, all hit hedgehogs have been counted since the 1970s. The numbers fell sharply over the decades, which suggested the existence of hedgehogs. The study was ended in 2015 because there were hardly any dead hedgehogs left, and it can be ruled out that the animals had recently learned to cross the streets without accidents.
The brown-breasted hedgehog, native to Europe, is a difficult animal to count: nocturnal, one specimen difficult to distinguish from the other, so “The Hare and the Hedgehog” can be considered a biologically versed fairy tale. The reasons for the extinction in the countryside are quickly listed. Pesticides decimate the insects, beetles, grubs, larvae are part of the diet alongside earthworms.
Hedgehog researcher Anne Berger says: “They have nothing left to eat and nothing left to live in either. They can’t build nests because there are hardly any hedges and green verges left in the countryside.” In this case, climate change is not a real accelerator; however, the drought summers with hard soil and little water have a problematic effect.
So the hedgehogs are currently surviving in the cities with their parks and green spaces, on the outskirts with many gardens. Berger recently examined the relationship of the capital hedgehogs in Berlin. There are therefore three clans that characterize Germany’s largest city, but without causing a stir and TV series. Actually, the hedgehog clans should be separated from each other, because roads, rivers, railway lines provide insurmountable barriers. Nevertheless, when the scientists analyzed the genomes of 143 hedgehogs, they found that there is a real “Berliner Mix”.
How do the animals manage to mix so well in the city with its dangers? Anne Berger names two possibilities. Either the supply of green spaces is so complete and good that hedgehogs can migrate unhindered – or humans have a hand in it. The second variant is more likely, it is supported by reports from the hedgehog sanctuaries. Found and nursed young animals are often released to new locations – and spread.
In years with warm, humid summers and cold, dry winters, good food and many nests, the females have up to ten offspring, so the hedgehogs could well have more. The fact that it is different is also due to unfortunate factors in the cities. These include the well-known obstacles, including the increasing number of dogs and plastic waste. Anne Berger criticizes the senseless zeal for order in parks where hedgehogs are concerned, where all leaves and thus nesting material are cleared away in autumn.
In addition, there are two popular items for prosperous green maintenance. Leaf blowers sometimes destroy hedgehog nests or simply suck away young animals that weigh only a hundred grams in the fall. And robotic lawnmowers have a devastating effect, even if the products now promise hedgehog-free mowing. An increase in the worst cut injuries is observed in all hedgehog stations. Berger: “The number of unreported cases is huge, the hedgehog doesn’t howl, he drags himself into the bushes with two legs that have been cut off.”
Hedgehog friends therefore want to initiate a night-time driving ban for robotic lawnmowers via a petition. However, that is not easy either – because precise data and figures are missing, see above.
After all, it is quite easy for each individual to do something for hedgehogs. This includes insect and beetle friendly plants in the garden, no gravel gardens, prefer fences instead of walls. And some leaves in the corner can work wonders.
This article was first published in March 2022.
