Help Hedgehogs

Aim

Help us provide care and veterinary treatment to hedgehog casualties to get them healthy for release back to the wild

We are a wildlife hospital providing expert care and rehabilitation to sick, injured or orphaned wildlife casualties with the aim to release healthy wildlife back to their natural habitats, where they belong.

Patients at the hospital are constantly changing and we are now coming through our busiest summer season yet. During the summer we cared for over 2,000 seasonal casualties all needing around the clock care. It was truly a rewarding experience to see them grow up and develop from young babies into adults, many of these have now been released into suitable habitats. The freed-up space is now needed to house the impending influx of sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs. Many of these will need over-winter care and once healthy and up to a good weight, we will gradually release hundreds of these healthy hedgehogs back into suitable local habitats. 

What is the fate of the beloved hedgehog?

The nation’s favourite wild mammal needs all the help it can get. Once a common sight in our gardens and countryside the hedgehog population has declined alarmingly.

Habitat loss and depleted food sources has had a massive negative impact on hedgehog numbers. Sadly climate change is causing warmer and longer summers as well as milder winters. This is causing hedgehogs to breed later in the year, and come winter the babies are often too small and weak to survive their winter hibernation. Many will become susceptible to diseases, infections and vulnerable to predator attacks and will require veterinary treatment to survive.

Last year sees the first publication of the Red List for British Mammals, which shows that UK hedgehogs are now classified as ‘vulnerable to extinction’. The announcement comes from the Mammal Society, and states that one-quarter of native UK mammals are now at risk of extinction. This decline is not sustainable and it could mean that we lose our spikey friends for good. It is clear that UK hedgehogs are in real trouble.

How do we care for hedgehogs?

We provide care to over 600 hedgehog patients each year with over 200 hedgehogs spending the winter with us. Many of our hedgehog patients are casualties from road traffic incidents, gardening injuries and domestic pet attacks. Our highest admissions are hedgehogs that are weak, underweight or too small to survive their winter hibernation.

Once in our care, young or underweight hedgehogs need to be kept warm and secure, without their mothers to care for them they are kept in incubators and creches which have heated plates for them to sleep and hide under. Many will need food, fluids and a course of antibiotics to stabilise. When strong enough they move to an outside enclosure where they grow and develop their natural behaviour prior to being released back into their natural habitats. 

Hedgehogs can often become host to a number of parasites such as ringworm, lungworm fleas and ticks. If treated quickly they do respond well to treatment and recover.

How can you help us to care for hedgehogs?

By supporting our campaign you could help us to provide veterinary treatment and life saving care  to hundreds of hedgehogs and other wildlife casualties and orphans in our hospital, without the need to transport these already vulnerable animals to local veterinary clinics.

Your support could help secure the future of our UK wildlife, as we continue to provide care and rehabilitation to wildlife casualties to get them fit and healthy for release. 

This project successfully funded on 21st September 2021