One of Britain’s favourite mammals is on the verge of extinction. Hedgehogs could be wiped out in just 10 years as their habitats fall victim to developers and farming.
Numbers are now below a million – but there were 35 million of them in 1950.
Experts blame their decline on housing, roads and bigger farms removing woodland and hedgerows.
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Fences around gardens and parks also stop our prickly pals finding food, while pesticides have killed off the bugs they rely on.
A source at the Woodland Trust, which is campaigning to save hedgehogs, warned: “They have lost three-quarters of their population in just 20 years. A big cause is the loss of their habitat.”
(Image: Getty Images)
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society’s Imogen Buller said: “We’ve lost a significant proportion of hedgehogs since the Millennium.
“Numbers have declined so much they’re now on the Government red list of species vulnerable to extinction.
“Their situation is of great concern.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“Reasons for their decline include habitat loss, more fences and pesticides.”
You can help them by making 13cm-wide holes at the bottom of fences to create hedgehog highways.
Leaving out saucers of water – not milk – and ditching pesticides in gardens also helps.