The hedgehog is now listed as vulnerable to extinction in Britain. Rural numbers have fallen by somewhere between a third and three quarters since 2000.

But urban populations have stopped falling, and in places they’re recovering — credited largely to ordinary people making ordinary gardens accessible. Britain’s first National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy, published in 2024, puts habitat fragmentation at the top of the threat list.

This means that we can all play our part in changing the fortunes of hedgehogs in Furzedown - simply by taking a look at our fences.

Ways you can get involved

Are there actually hedgehogs in Furzedown?

We're on the lookout for them. They’ve been spotted on the outskirts but so far nothing has been confirmed on camera. In September, ZSL’s London HogWatch installed a grid of 50 cameras across Furzedown — the baseline year of a multi-year study testing whether a community group like this one can measurably change what lives here.

If you see one, add your sighting to the big hedgehog map so that we can keep track of where our prickly friends are popping up.