Did you know that Hampstead Heath is home to one of the largest (if not the largest!) hedgehog populations in London?
Over the last few years, we’ve been increasing our hedgehog-related conservation and connectivity work as part of our Hedgehog Friendly Heath project.
This has involved working with schools and community groups to increase awareness of hedgehogs in the local area, reviewing the Heath’s hedgehog rescue procedures, and conservation work, such as planting new hedgerows, monitoring the population, mapping barriers and improving connectivity where possible.
With perfect timing for Hedgehog Awareness Week, the 2024 Hampstead Heath hedgehog survey has just started with 150 trail cameras installed over the past week – a huge team effort involving staff and volunteers from Heath Hands, the Zoological Society of London and the City of London. Many thanks to everyone involved!
The cameras will be out for several weeks, checked regularly, then collected and the footage analysed.
The results will give us invaluable data on how healthy the population is, any areas that are hedgehog hotspots, along with information on other wildlife across our green spaces.
If you’re interested in finding out more about hedgehog monitoring, including the latest reports on the surveys on Hampstead Heath, head over to: heath-hands.org.uk/ecology-wildlife.
And if you would like to do your bit for hedgehogs, do consider actions like installing a hedgehog highway - a hole in your garden fence - if you can, leaving wild corners of leaf and log piles and avoiding littering and pesticide use. You can also support our work by adopting a hedgehog nest box on the Heath via our website.
Heath Hands’ Wildlife Interpreters will be at Parliament Hill (near the Bandstand) on May 11, the Kenwood Dairy on May 18 and the Highgate Eco Fair on June 15, with lots of advice and information on hedgehogs and connectivity, so do come and find us!
For more information: heath-hands.org.uk/whatson
- Karin Oleinikova is programme manager for Heath Hands.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here