New hospital opens for injured Purbeck hedgehogs

By Andrew Smith 4 May 2025, 6:00 am

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Sick and starving hedgehogs from across Purbeck now have a greater chance of survival after a dedicated treatment centre has opened its doors just 10 miles from Wareham.

A new hedgehog hospital near Bere Regis is expecting to take more than 750 injured or starving animals in its first year, and has been welcomed by the Wareham and Sandford Hedgehog Group.

Ashley Barn, near Bere Regis, has been converted into a full time hedgehog hospital for Dorset

Officially at risk of extinction

While Wareham and Sandford are lucky enough to have a larger population than most towns – strangely, there are very few sightings of the animals in Swanage – hedgehogs are officially at risk of extinction in the UK, and the threat to their health continues to grow.

Dorset Hedgehog Rescue opened the doors to its rescue centre in a converted farm barn on Monday 28th April 2025 and had its first patient arrive within minutes – Rosie, who had been attacked by either a fox or a dog and had bite wounds to her head.

The centre is being headed by Jim Dunne, who previously ran the Hamworthy Hedgehog Centre with his wife Tracy from their home before finding that demands on time, money and space were overwhelming.

But after being left a large legacy by supporter Derek Cooke, and with public donations, the charity has been able to rent and equip Ashley Barn near Bere Regis and is getting ready to receive sick and injured hedgehogs from across Purbeck and the rest of Dorset.

Desmond, an elderly hedgehog without any teeth, was brought in because he was spotted struggling to eat

“Classified at risk of extinction”

Jim Dunne said:

“The picture for hedgehogs really is bleak. In the UK, they are on the mammals red list and classified at risk of extinction, and their numbers are now falling sharply across the rest of Europe as well.

“Habitat destruction is a big problem for hedgehogs, but also the overuse of pesticides. They eat earthworms, bugs and grubs, which the pesticides target, so there is less food available, meaning they either die off or don’t breed so successfully.

“The majority of hedgehogs we receive are because of problems caused by man – especially by garden machinery like strimmers.

“But as modern gardens all have six foot fences with gravel boards, perhaps even astro turf, hedgehogs can’t travel between gardens and are losing all their food routes. That’s a big issue.

“We also get a lot of injuries to hedgehogs from dogs, and others with head injuries like they have been hit by a passing car, or perhaps kicked, which is increasingly common now.”

The Hedgehog Hospital is always grateful for donations of food for its patients – cat food in jelly is best

Town gardens may act as a refuge

Jim added:

“Hedgehogs are one of the few wild mammals the public will encounter up close and are a firm favourite, but we are seeing some concerning population declines across the UK, especially in rural areas.

“Urban landscapes have become increasingly important for hedgehogs. Gardens and green spaces in towns can support the highest densities of hedgehogs and may act as a refuge from changing agricultural practices and high predator density.

“If communities can join even 10 gardens together with hedgehog highways, that is brilliant – there is pressure being put on the Government to have all new house builds include them, it only takes a five inch square cut into one panel of a fence, and it’s not a great hardship.

“Hedgehogs have a cognitive map of their area in their minds and know their routes, they can travel up to three kilometres a night looking for food, and being able to travel through gardens is very important for them.”

The first 23 pens for patients are already in place, with a further 80 expected soon

Joint project in primary schools

Sustainable Wareham has been running a joint project with Dorset Mammal Group in local primary schools to help the local hedgehog population thrive, and has welcomed the creation of the Dorset Hedgehog Hospital just 10 miles from the town.

Its Schools for Hedgehogs project ran a series of sessions for 10 year olds to tell them about the hazards hedgehogs face every day and how everyone can make a difference to helping local populations of the animal survive.

School grounds have been made more hedgehog friendly with nesting boxes for the mammals put out, ramps left in ponds so that hedgehogs don’t drown, routes where they can travel safely marked with a sign to keep them accessible, and untidy areas with brambles, logs and leaves left to ensure good supply of food.

As well as making a difference in their schools, children have also been spreading the word to their families and a growing number of hedgehog highways have been established through Wareham.

Karen Naylor of Hedgehog Friendly Wareham helped pupils of Sandford St Martin’s School to build hedgehog nest boxes

“It is fantastic news!”

Karen Naylor from Sustainable Wareham, said:

“We are delighted to hear of this brilliant new rescue centre! Like most UK wildlife, hedgehogs are in serious decline, so it’s great news that we can now take the sick or injured to Dorset Hedgehog Rescue where they’ll be given expert care and, crucially, be released back to the wild once they’re well.

“Sustainable Wareham is supporting a ‘Schools for Hogs’ project at our three local primary schools, with children carrying out specific hog-supporting tasks in order to achieve a bronze, silver or gold certificate of hedgehog awareness and care.

“We know our junior Hog-warts will be using their knowledge and skills to prevent hedgehog harms, but should they find a poorly hog they’ll be as pleased as we are that there’s now a safe, caring expert nearby!”

And Kate Brailsford, of Hedgehog Friendly Wareham and Sandford, said:

“It is very exciting news for us, the new rescue is right on our doorstep and will be an invaluable resource for all of us who support Dorset Mammal group’s aim to reverse the decline of hedgehogs in Dorset.

“We will also be more environmentally friendly in terms of mileage travelled, as over the last seven years our hedgehog transport group has made a great many journeys to rescues all over Dorset, including Christchurch, Portland and even Yeovil.

“It has been a long project to establish a hedgehog hospital, but it is brilliant for us that one is open so close – myself and my team have been taking hedgehogs all over the county in the past. It is fantastic news!”

The first patients have started to arrive at the hospital

An ICU with 10 incubators

Dorset Hedgehog Hospital spokesperson Jim Dunne said:

“We used to care for more than 750 hedgehogs a year from home, and we are expecting to get a lot more animals than that, especially as several of the small rescue centres in Dorset have now closed.

“We opened on Monday and the phone has already started ringing off the hook. We have 23 specially made cages at the moment, another 80 on order, and an ICU with 10 incubators for the orphan hoglets and the more seriously ill or injured hedgehogs which need warmth.

“We would prefer people to bring their hedgehogs in to us, or – if they know there are injuries – take them to a vet first, who will treat them, then pass them on to us for ongoing care and rehabilitation.

“When the hedgehogs are better they mostly go back to where they came from, unless there were building works going on or if they were attacked by dogs in a garden and we don’t want them to go through that again.”

The new HQ for Dorset Hedgehog Rescue is set in a valley with its own resident population of buzzards, a red kite, and house martins

“Always very grateful for public support”

Jim added:

“We will be working with the Dorset Mammal Group, who had originally hoped to open a hospital themselves.

“We will do the hands-on rescue and rehabilitation and they will do the education and conservation side of things – it will be two organisations running alongside each other, sharing the same goals.

“Our centre is not a visitor attraction and is not open to the public. Our work with hedgehogs is done behind closed doors for the hedgehogs’ welfare and to give them the best possible second chance at life in the wild.

“But we are always very grateful for the public support we get – it will cost around £275 a day to run the hospital and help from the public, like donations of cat food, or even corporate sponsorship, will help us to look after these lovely, endangered animals.”