Through our camera trap surveys we’ve established Hampstead Heath as a stronghold area for London’s hedgehog population, due to its substantial size and the wide distribution of hedgehogs detected across the park. In 2018, HogWatch partnered with City of London Corporation and Heath Hands to undertake a large-scale 150 camera trap survey of Hampstead Heath over a two-week period.

Hedgehogs were well distributed across the park with an overall 376 hedgehog sightings across 51% of cameras. To ensure long-term monitoring of this key hedgehog stronghold, a second 150 camera-trap survey was completed in 2021, and a third 150-camera trap survey took place in the spring of 2024. Preliminary findings of the latest survey suggest that the population could be stable. In 2025, we will be further analysing the three datasets using Random Encounter Model (REM) density estimates which will provide a detailed assessment of population trends.