Hedgehogs have been listed as “near threatened” by a global wildlife organisation with the population in Scotland estimated to have fallen by as much as 50 per cent over the past two decades.
Intensive farming, vehicle collisions, bonfires, slug pellets, urban development, the use of pesticides and over-tidy gardens, are pushing the animal towards extinction, experts fear.
The hedgehog, once common throughout Scotland, has been updated from “least concern to near threatened” in the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species published this week.
IUCN’s Red List was established in 1964 and is the world’s most comprehensive source of information on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

In 1995 the UK hedgehog population was estimated to be 1.55 million, with 310,000 remaining in Scotland.
In 2020 the first official Red List for British mammals reported that the number of hedgehogs in the UK had fallen to around 500,000, a decline of more than 46 per cent over the previous 13 years, with the best estimate for the Scottish population at just 196,000.
The Mammal Society said that a national hedgehog census is required as a “matter of urgency” to gather data with a view to developing an action plan to reverse the decline of hedgehogs in Scotland.
According to Britain’s first National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy, published earlier this year by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, population numbers may be stabilising in urban areas.
But hedgehogs are still struggling in rural areas where declines have ranged from between 35 per cent and 75 per cent since the turn of the century – a serious cause for concern in Scotland where 98 per cent of land mass is categorised as rural.
Data collated as part of the National Gamebag Census, conducted annually by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, appears to confirm the decline, indicating that the Scottish rural hedgehog population could have reduced by as much as 50 per cent between 1994 and 2019.
A national hedgehog census is required as a matter of urgency to gather baseline data with a view to developing an action plan to reverse the decline of hedgehogs in Scotland.
Hope Nothhelfer, of the Mammal Society.
The cause of the crash in hedgehog numbers in rural areas is not fully understood, but high on the list of culprits is habitat loss due to intensive agriculture.
Scotland lost half of its hedgerows in the twentieth century when the UK government provided grants to remove them in the name of farm efficiency.
The remaining hedges are often poorly managed and offer little cover to escape from predators such as foxes and badgers.
Farm fields are also sprayed with pesticides removing insects from the food chain, leaving little for hedgehogs to eat.
Other potential threats outlined in the Hedgehog Conservation Strategy include an increase in road traffic collisions, death from garden machinery and bonfires, toxin accumulation from poison put out for rats and habitat fragmentation.
However, due to a lack of reliable data, the decline of hedgehogs in Scotland is still unclear and could be even worse than current estimates suggest.
Many mammal experts are calling for more research and funds to find out exactly how many hedgehogs remain and how declines can be reversed.
Dr Emma Cartledge, a research fellow at Nottingham Trent University and a member of the team coordinating the recently launched National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme (NHMP),told The Ferret: “To better understand hedgehog conservation status, we need robust population estimates that can tell us how hedgehogs are faring in different areas and habitats.
“Wildlife charities PTES and BHPS alongside project partners, including Nottingham Trent University, are trialling the new hedgehog monitoring programme to provide this insight. With four monitoring sites in Scotland as part of this trial, the NHMP will provide the tools we need to assess hedgehog declines and implement appropriate conservation action.”
The Mammal Society’s Hope Nothhelfer said: “A national hedgehog census is required as a matter of urgency to gather baseline data with a view to developing an action plan to reverse the decline of hedgehogs in Scotland.
“The National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy and the new monitoring programme are important first steps that are UK-wide. Volunteer effort and/or government funding will be needed to gather sufficient data in Scotland.”
Although Scotland does not have its own action plan for reversing the loss of hedgehogs, NatureScot’s mammal adviser, Robert Raynor, contributed directly to the development of the new National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy which he hopes will “provide the catalyst for driving forward the necessary actions to reverse the decline across Britain.”
He also highlighted NatureScot’s seasonal Make Space for Nature campaign, which provides practical tips to help wildlife at different times of the year.
Raynor suggested allowing vegetation to dieback naturally in the autumn for insects to shelter and hedgehogs to forage and seek refuge in.
He also recommended planting bulbs and hedgerow starters, ready for insects and mammals coming out of hibernation in spring, and cutting small access holes in the base of garden fences to allow hedgehogs in and out of gardens.
“Housing developers can also move away from surrounding new build gardens with impenetrable wooden fences and instead put in more permeable wildlife-friendly structures,” Raynor added.
Photo credits: the Mammal Society – Alick Simmons and David Gibbon.