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Expedition 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Hedgehog in United Kingdom

Britain's spiny night wanderer — a garden favourite whose numbers have fallen sharply in recent decades.

Hedgehog

The species

The hedgehog is one of the UK's most beloved mammals — a snuffling, spiny ball that emerges after dark to patrol lawns and hedgerows for slugs, beetles, and worms. For many British collectors, a hedgehog sighting feels like a small miracle: they're there, but easy to miss if you're not out at the right hour.

Habitat in United Kingdom

European hedgehogs live in gardens, parks, farmland, and woodland edge across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. They need connected green space — hedgerows, compost heaps, and quiet corners to nest — and hunt at night across lawns and leaf litter within territories of one to two kilometres.

Where to spot one

  • Richmond Park

    London

    Ancient parkland where red deer graze at dawn, mallards paddle the ponds, and foxes slip through bracken at the woodland edge.

  • The New Forest

    Hampshire

    Open heath and oak woodland where foxes, deer, ponies, and woodland birds share a landscape that feels surprisingly wild for southern England.

  • Hyde Park & Regent's Park

    London

    Urban park lakes for mallards, tree lines full of sparrows, and pigeons along the Serpentine — starter discoveries in the heart of the city.

  • Cotswolds Farmland

    Gloucestershire & Oxfordshire

    Hedgerows, pasture, and village edges — classic fox country where russet coats show clearly against green fields at last light.

Conservation status

VU — Vulnerable

The European hedgehog is Vulnerable in the UK and declining across much of western Europe. Habitat fragmentation, roads, and loss of insect prey are the main drivers — garden-friendly practices and hedgehog highways between plots can help local populations.

Keep exploring

Keep exploring

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Log the Hedgehog in United Kingdom

Spot one in the wild — scan it in Catch'Um to log your rare discovery.