Kent's hedgehogs under threat?

Hedgehog numbers have more than halved in some areas since 2000.  Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00A hedgehog on the move, a species on the decline.

00:06Across rural parts of the UK, hedgehogs have seen their numbers cut down over the last

00:1320 years, falling by up to 75% since 2000.

00:19That means in places like Kent, where the majority of the county is undeveloped countryside

00:25or farmland, hedgehogs are most at risk.

00:28We've had several rescues, larger rescues, five across the county closed in the last

00:32year or two.

00:34The demand for rescue spaces is also increasing as well, so those of us that are left are

00:40seeing much higher demand.

00:41Not only is the species declining at a massive rate, there's estimations that hedgehogs could

00:47be extinct by as soon as 2050.

00:51The hazards that they're facing because of population growth means that the ones that

00:55are still left are facing more threats than ever before and needing help to be able to

01:02survive.

01:03With Thorn Hedgehog Rescue nurturing up to 150 hogs back to health at any one time, the

01:08pressure is on.

01:10But the future isn't all bleak.

01:13Hedgehog numbers have evened out in urban areas.

01:16And this week, conservation charities launched the first ever National Hedgehog Conservation

01:22Strategy aiming to tackle the root causes of hedgehog decline.

01:27With access to food reducing the number of hedgehogs being hit by vehicles and habitat

01:33loss all being priorities for the next decade.

01:38And the co-author of the report says you can also help at home.

01:42First and foremost, we've got this idea of hedgehog highways, which are the 13 centimetre

01:46gaps in fences.

01:47I think a lot of people have heard of those now, which is brilliant.

01:51So it's a case of cutting a gap in the fence or digging a channel underneath that lets

01:55hedgehogs in, you know, encouraging friends and neighbours to do the same thing to create

01:58a hedgehog street.

02:00And then once you've done that, you can start to think about lovely wildlife friendly features

02:03in the garden.

02:04So things like log piles, leaf piles, compost heaps, all of those things are going to increase

02:09that creepy crawly, that invertebrate prey.

02:12And that's going to, you know, that's going to bring hedgehogs in.

02:14A prickly conversation then, but one that could keep Kent's hedgehogs safe for years

02:19to come.

02:20Oliver, Leader of the Sats, reporting for KMTV.