Description

Your Gift of Nature will help to conserve British hedgehogs.

The European hedgehog, every gardener’s friend, is in need of urgent help. Their numbers have halved in some parts of the UK in just 20 years, and they could become extinct in another 20 unless we learn how to stop this decline.

One problem when studying hedgehogs is finding out exactly where they are, as they are nocturnal and can cover a mile or two every night. However one tiny hedgehog parasite may hold the key to saving them. A particular lungworm lives in hedgehogs for part of its life cycle and is then passed onto slugs and snails through the hedgehog’s droppings. By collecting slugs and snails (which are much easier to find than hedgehogs) and testing them for this parasite, experts should be able to tell if hedgehogs are present in those gardens. This will help to focus hedgehog conservation efforts before it’s too late.

Your Gift of Nature will go towards buying field and laboratory equipment to track down hedgehogs.