Number of hedgehogs nearly doubles during annual count

There were around two thousand more hedgehogs registered in the annual hedgehog count from the Egelwerkgroep, Jaarrond Tuintelling and the youth program of the Natural Monuments (OERRR). In total, 4,500 hedgehogs were counted this year.

Both the number of hedgehogs and the number of people who participated in the hedgehog count increased. One thousand one hundred forty hedgehog reports were registered via tuintelling.nl.

In many gardens, more hedgehogs were seen, according to the Mammal Society. “Sometimes, even eight at a time,” according to the union.

There were also individual sightings outside of the garden noted on waarneming.nl and telmee.nl.

Yet, the annual count of 4,500 is no record, according to the spokesperson of the Mammal Society said. She also noted that more people participated this year. “But that is good because a part of our goal is to make people aware about what they can do for hedgehogs.”

The living environment of the hedgehogs is on the decline, the spokesperson said. This means that more and more hedgehogs are moving to villages and cities and end up in people’s gardens.

“People can, for example, create hedgehog highways through which hedgehogs can easily move from garden to garden. Or special coroners, specifically where hedgehogs can sleep.”

More than 160 of the registered hedgehogs were dead. These observations also play an important role in hedgehog research, according to the Mammal Society. “Not only can the presence of the species be established but also the bottlenecks for hedgehogs, such as roads and highways, can also be put on the map.” This will allow for protective measures for the hedgehogs to be taken, the spokesperson said.