Center Parcs deals with prickly customers

Hedgehogs are favoured by gardeners for taking care of naughty garden pests,but our prickly garden dwellers are in trouble - with a 30% decline in numbers reported over the past decade.

But Center Parcs at Woburn Forest is doing its bit to help our hogs in need, and last week released four male and four female hedgehogs into its woodland area.

“One of our Aqua Sans Spa Receptionists is a volunteer at Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital and when she joined the team here, she discussed the idea of making Woburn Forest a release site for recovered hedgehogs,” explained Lucie Vicentijevic, Conservation Ranger at the Center Parcs Woburn Forest.

“Our woodland areas are left as natural as possible which is just what the hedgehogs need to hide, create homes and have lots of food.

“We also have grassland areas and two hedgerows on the village which will become dense to form corridors for hedgehogs to move along.

“We don’t usually introduce species into our forests but knowing we already have hedgehogs here and everything they need to thrive, we were more than happy to help these wonderful creatures who are so integral to keeping insects, ants, moths and wasp numbers under control,” she added.

Richard Lawrence is an Ecologist at the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity. “Hedgehogs appear to be declining faster than tigers and need all the help they can get,” he said. “This project to provide a safe refuge for rehabilitated hedgehogs to be released back in the wild is a fantastic move to secure a better future for them.”