citizen science, conservation, displacement, predator-prey interaction, spatial use, activity pattern, ALAN, camera trap, fragmentation, hedgehogs, Erinaceus europaeus, light pollution, lightscape, urbanisation, Arabia, arid environment, desert, Middle East, density, survival, capture, abundance, population dynamics, small mammal, hedgehog, Portugal, mortality, trauma, pathology, GPS, acceleration, activity, movement behaviour, urban ecology, gardens, occupancy, hibernation, spontaneous arousal, metabolism, wildlife rehabilitation, rehabilitation protocols, wildlife rescue, Hedgehog, PCR, Crenosoma striatum, rDNA, Gastropod, Nematode, Biological tag, farmland, habitat fragmentation, hedgerow, hibernacula, mammal, nest, animal shelter, translocation, genotyping by amplicon sequencing, road mortality, collision, movement, demography, population viability, mitigation, road ecology, insectivore, agri-environment schemes, habitat preference, farmland biodiversity, population trend, population reduction, settlement area, urban densification, convergent character displacement, Erinaceus, geometric morphometrics, species interactions, disturbance, anthropogenic habitat change, behavioural plasticity, GPS telemetry, urban, genetic cluster, barrier, animal behaviour, applied conservation biology, human–wildlife conflicts, robotic lawn mowers, wildlife conservation, animal welfare, European hedgehog, wildlife hospital, hoglet, weaning, rescue centre, release, red fox, Vulpes vulpes, Eurasian badger, Meles meles, supplementary feeding, urban mammals, domestic cat, Felis catus, sex-biased longevity, age structure, age, matrix models, life tables, sex-biased mortality, European hedgehogs, periosteal growth lines, urban and rural, Western European hedgehog, hematology, biochemistry, protein electrophoresis, reference intervals, wildlife, rehabilitation centres, plastic waste, population modelling, awareness, biodiversity stewardship, common knowledge, human–nature interactions, perception, questionnaire, insectivores, rodenticides, route of exposure, non target, invertebrates, secondary exposure, molluscs, animal personality, applied animal behaviour research, shyness–boldness, anthropogenic disturbance, garden technology, lawn care, behavioural instability, rehabilitation centre, cut injuries, mortality rate, human–wildlife conflict, animal suffer, safety tests, hedgehog conservation, human–wildlife, urban wildlife, radio telemetry, home range, movements, nest use, hibernation nest, xenobiotics, heavy metals, environmental pollution, toxicants, target screening, non-target screening, bioaccumulation, Applied mathematics

Hedgehogs (order: Eulipotyphla; family: Erinaceidae; subfamily: Erinaceinae) are familiar and popular spiny mammals, but they face many challenges in modern human-dominated environments. In this Special Issue "Applied Hedgehog Conservation Research", we present an anthology of 30 recent articles from the journal Animals, which helps fill some of the many gaps in our knowledge of hedgehogs and describe new approaches to their study. In several Western European countries, there is evidence of a significant decline in the hedgehog population. By bringing the articles in this Special Issue together, we hope to inspire further research that will contribute to evidence-based conservation initiatives in order to protect this much-loved species and prevent further population decline.