The hedgehog is closer to extinction than ever before after suffering rapid population decline in recent years.
The western hedgehog has been downgraded to “near threatened” in the latest edition of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Any further deterioration in numbers would see them listed as “near-extinct”.
Hedgehogs were once common across western Europe and until now, had been listed as “least concern” but urban development, intensive farming and roads have pushed the species to the brink.
Numbers have fallen in several countries, including the UK, with 16-33 per cent national declines over the past 10 years.
Dr Abi Gazzard, small mammal specialist at the IUCN, said: “Regional and national action is essential to support hedgehog populations through initiatives such as Hedgehog Street in the UK and Danmarks Pindsvin in Denmark.”
The IUCN has warned that roadkill accounts for the lives of an eighth of hedgehogs yearly and has called for more 20mph zones to protect them.
The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) have launched a national hedgehog conservation society across the UK to try and address the problem.
Al-Fulaij, chief executive of PTES, said: “The news that European hedgehogs have been reclassified by the IUCN as ‘near threatened’ globally raises the alarm for this much-loved native species across their range.”
The Mammal Society is calling for people to look after the species by gardening in a responsible way.
This would include leaving gaps in fences to allow them to move between gardens, creating shelters with log piles and not using pesticides.
Hope Nothhelfer, a communications officer at the Mammal Society, said: “This decline will likely come as no surprise to the average person.
“When hedgehogs come up in conversation, it’s not long before someone says that they just don’t see them anymore.
“The hope is that as hedgehogs become more and more like a distant memory from our childhoods, we will respond with action that will bring these memories back to life.”
