Hedgehogs

The decline of hedgehog populations

Hedgehogs are one of the nation's favourite native animals, yet only one in five UK residents say they have actually seen one in the wild. Habitat loss and fragmentation has caused hedgehog populations to decline, and The State of Britain's Hedgehogs 2022 reports that the population has diminished to approximately 879,000 today. Hedgehogs are now vulnerable to extinction on the British Red List for Mammals and the IUCN Red List.

The Lower Sunbury Hedgehog Project

This has sparked the formation of a community conservation project, the Lower Sunbury Hedgehog Project which has launched in May in time for Hedgehog Awareness Week. Spelthorne Borough Council has collaborated with the Lower Sunbury Residents Association, Friends of Sunbury Park, and the Spelthorne Natural History Society to take local action promoting hedgehog conservation awareness and encouraging monitoring so we can understand our resident hedgehogs better. This project has launched in the Lower Sunbury area, but it is hoped it will contribute to increased interest across the borough, and the project will expand and partner with other communities.

How to get involved

To learn more about what you can do to help hedgehogs please see our project resources here/below. To get involved and track the project's progress please visit the project Facebook page The Lower Sunbury Hedgehog Project (QR code), or you can keep an eye on LOSRA - The Lower Sunbury Residents' Association Website | Sunbury for further updates.

Spelthorne's interactive hedgehog map

View the Hedgehog Map

This interactive map was created as part of the Lower Sunbury Hedgehog Project (LSHP) to show the distribution and abundance of hedgehogs across the Borough of Spelthorne up until July 2024. In total there have been two hundred and twenty live hedgehog sightings and eight dead hedgehog sightings recorded. There are thirty hedgehog highways; these refer to when somebody has cut a small hedgehog sized hole in the bottom of their garden fence for the purpose of enabling hedgehogs to travel from garden to garden as they forage and search for mates each night. While the LSHP has focussed its campaign in Lower Sunbury, Spelthorne Council are aiming to bringing awareness and action across the entire borough!

The data displayed in this interactive map was kindly provided by the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). Together with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, PTES begun the Hedgehog Street campaign in 2011. Its aim is to bring awareness about the decline of hedgehogs and provide tools for people to monitor and protect their populations.

To explore hedgehog sightings across the entire Hedgehog Street area, check out the Big Hedgehog Map: BIG Hedgehog Map.

The LSHP map was last updated in July 2024, and will be updated again in Spring 2025.