Admission and Survival Trends in Hedgehogs Admitted to RSPCA Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres

Abstract

The hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) population is in decline in the UK and they are the most frequently admitted mammal to British Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres (WRCs). Whilst successful, UK rehabilitation is time-consuming and expensive and few large-scale studies into UK WRC admission and survival rates have been published in the last decade. This paper examines admission and survival trends in 19,577 hedgehogs admitted to Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals centres over a 13 year period (2005–2017) to gauge the state of Britain’s hedgehogs in WRCs and to gain indirect insight into the wild population. During the studied period, admissions more than doubled. Admission weights were greater in later than early litter juveniles. The survival improved 26% overall, and 33% in juveniles. Twenty two percent of animals died or were euthanased within 48 h of admission. Kaplan–Meier analysis gave survivor functions of 0.78 at 2 days, 0.66 at 10 days, 0.62 at 20 days, and 0.53 at 80 days. Survival was independent of admission weight in each age category. In particular, survival was greater in early litter juveniles than in adults or late litter juveniles; and across the breeding season diminished in juveniles and increased in adults. These data suggest factors impacting hedgehog survival have remained stable despite population decrease; that care methods have improved; and that late litters are more vulnerable than early. For WRCs this reaffirms that current methods are successful, but that further resources could be directed towards late litters.

Endoparasite Infections of the European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Central Italy

“…The foraging area of the European hedgehog usually extends over a radius of 200–300 m around the nest, but it can also cover distances of several kilometers, with a considerable risk of being killed by vehicles or dying of unnatural causes [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. As further proof of the close contact between hedgehogs and humans, this species is one of the most hospitalized mammal species in wildlife rescue centers in Italy [ 8 ] and other European countries as well [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

An Estimate of the Scale and Composition of the Hedgehog (Erinaceus europeaus) Rehabilitation Community in Britain and the Channel Islands

“…If we assume, based on the data from the RSPCA, which are the only data available at the current time, that approximately 50% of hedgehogs admitted to hospitals survive to be released [ 4 ], our results suggest that rehabilitators may collectively be saving 20,000 hedgehogs that would otherwise perish, a number equivalent to 2.3% of the national pre-breeding population. However, the causes for admission given by finders (Bearman-Brown and Baker, unpublished data) do suggest that most hedgehog casualties probably originate from urban areas, and that a large proportion of affected animals are juveniles [ 72 ]). If we assume that the pre-breeding population of hedgehogs associated with gardens and other urban green spaces is 200,000 [ 44 ], the adult sex ratio is 1:1, each adult female produces one litter a year, and mean litter size is 4.5 [ 36 ], this figure would equate to 10.0% of the pre-breeding or 3.1% of the post-breeding urban population.…”

What makes a house a home? Nest box use by West European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) is influenced by nest box placement, resource provisioning and site-based factors

“…Summer day nesting is therefore defined as day nesting at any time during March-October inclusive. Breeding nests may also be formed at any point during this period: the majority of litters in the UK are produced early in the annual cycle (May-June: Deanesly, 1934 ; Jackson, 2006 ; Haigh, 2011 ), although ‘late litters’ are not uncommon in August-October ( Dowler Burroughes, Dowler & Burroughes, 2021 ). Breeding nests tend to be occupied by the mother and usually 3–6 young ( Morris, 1977 ; Kristiansson, 1981 ; Walhvod, 1984 ), with the litter becoming independent by approximately six weeks of age ( Morris, 2018 ).…”