A new study shows a dramatic decline in the number of hedgehogs in Great Britain, but gardeners in suburban areas like Kingston could help save the small mammal.
Hedgehog experts are calling on Kingston locals to help save the prickly animal, which has been suffering a huge decline in population across the country.
Hedgehog numbers fell by 71 per cent between 1981 and 2023 in England, Wales and Scotland. The study, published in Ecology and Evolution, revealed the huge decline of hedgehogs in both rural and urban areas, with rural areas being the worst affected.
Suburban gardens provide a relatively safe environment for hedgehogs. “Kingston has great potential to be a hedgehog stronghold in London,” said Kate Scott-Gatty, London HogWatch project manager at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
The borough of Kingston has been monitored since 2021. HogWatch carries out yearly surveys in an area going from Hampton Wick in the north to the Hogsmill in the south.
Since 2024, the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme (NHMP) has also surveyed a 1sq km site in Kingston. The area extends from Knollmead Park in the west to Manor Park in the east.
So far, there has been no identifiable trend in numbers in Kingston, Scott-Gatty said. Cameras record the presence of hedgehogs in the borough; however, it remains difficult to know exactly how many hedgehogs live here.
This year’s record drought, with the hosepipe ban still in place locally, may also have had a negative impact on the hedgehog population.
Hedgehogs can travel up to 2km a night in search of food or to find a mating partner. Scott-Gatty said that creating hedgehog highways would “increase connectivity between gardens in Kingston” and would help hedgehogs thrive.
Hedgehog highways are small openings in garden fences or walls that allow hedgehogs to travel more freely when they are active at night.
Sir David Attenborough, who lives in nearby Richmond, featured the highways in his documentary Wild London last year. He said: “London has more gardens per square mile than any other capital city. But all too often, there’s no way between them.”
Creating hedgehog highways is not the only action local gardeners can take to help hedgehogs.
The MammalWeb, a national citizen science platform, needs volunteers to collect data on hedgehogs. The winter data collection starts in December.
You can also help hedgehogs by filling in the London HogWatch’s Historical Knowledge Survey.
