Position statement on hedgehog decline and badgers

PTES position statement:

On the assertion that badgers are responsible for the decline in the British hedgehog population

Hedgehogs are predated by badgers and badgers compete with hedgehogs for food. The two species have coexisted in Britain for several thousand years and, whilst it is likely that where badger numbers are high the number of hedgehogs will be low, to identify badgers as the single most important factor affecting hedgehogs today is a mistake. Hedgehogs rarely encounter badgers in urban areas but they are declining just as severely in these places as they are in the wider countryside. Moreover, the rate of this decline is not related to the presence of badgers at particular urban sites. In rural areas hedgehogs are declining severely even in parts of the country with low badger densities (e.g. East Anglia). It is clear that several interacting pressures are at work. Bolstering hedgehog populations would be better achieved by increasing and improving habitat that supports both species – for example: restoring hedgerows to improve shelter and nesting opportunities; managing field margins and grasslands in ways that encourage abundant and diverse assemblages of invertebrates.