Understanding the challenges of maintaining urban hedgehog populations in London
The Problem
Hedgehog numbers are in decline across the UK, however urban areas have the potential to help mitigate this. The greater London area supports a number of substantial hedgehog populations, but little is known about their size and the extent of their distribution. Without a greater understanding of this and the types of habitats urban hedgehogs live in, we cannot effectively manage and protect these individuals, let alone develop a longer-term plan to improve conditions for these animals.
The Solution
The project will focus on the use of camera-traps to survey hedgehog distribution and abundance in key areas of London. The aim will not only be to estimate current population sizes in London’s main parks and green spaces, but also to look at distributions in the habitat areas in between. It is only through gaining this information that we can begin to develop strategies to improve our management of London hedgehogs and UK urban hedgehogs in general.