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The huge hedgehog in its new home at the British Wildlife Centre
Credit: British Wildlife Centre/Matt Binstead
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Sir David Attenborough and the hedgehog scale model
Credit: UKTV/Pharic Crawford
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The huge hedgehog at the British Wildlife Centre with members of the keeper team
Credit: British Wildlife Centre/Matt Binstead
Huge Hedgehog Finds New Home
The British Wildlife Centre (BWC) near Lingfield in Surrey is home to native species of all shapes and sizes, but the latest arrival is their biggest yet!
A giant hedgehog sculpture has been donated to the Centre by UKTV.
In February this wonderfully life-like structure was built by UKTV to mark the second series of David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities airing on the TV channel Watch.
The larger-than-life hedgehog, which stands at 7ft tall, was created by a team of specialist sculptors using mainly natural materials; soft wood spikes (2,000 in all), willow and coconut fibre. The team spent many weeks ensuring that its appearance was as realistic as possible (with the exception of its size of course!).
Sir David Attenborough was pleased with the hedgehog’s move to the BWC. “I am delighted that the giant hedgehog has found such an appropriate home” he said.
Sadly, this once familiar nocturnal garden visitor is now a rare sight and their numbers continue to dwindle. In the 1950s the UK hedgehog population was an estimated 30 million. Since then numbers have plummeted and some estimates put the current number at less than a million.
British Wildlife Centre Owner, David Mills said: “We’ve given the hedgehog pride of place at our main entrance, to give visitors a huge welcome! It’s perfect for the Centre as we are home to the finest collection of native species in the country. Our visitors love seeing the hedgehogs at our Keeper Talks, they are such a popular and iconic British species, now sadly in decline”.
If you want to meet the huge hedgehog, named ‘Snuffles’, (as well as the small real-life ones) then visit the British Wildlife Centre, which opens every weekend and during state school holidays.
Easter holiday opening: Saturday 5th April to Monday 21st April 2014. The hedgehog keeper talk takes place at 1pm daily during open dates.
