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Hedgehog help in Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft

Have you found an injured, sick or unusual hedgehog in Basel-Stadt or Basel-Landschaft? Here you can find out when a hedgehog needs help, which hedgehog station you can contact and how you can protect its habitat in the Basel region.

Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft form a connected habitat for hedgehogs. The animals move across municipal and cantonal boundaries through gardens, parks, cemeteries, allotment areas, farmland and green residential neighbourhoods.

The region has several private hedgehog stations and advice centres. As their admission capacities are limited and can change at short notice, handing over a hedgehog must always be arranged by phone first.

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A hedgehog in tall grass

Found a hedgehog – what should you do now?

Not every hedgehog needs human help. A healthy hedgehog is mainly active at dusk and at night. If you see a hedgehog during the day, this does not automatically mean that it is sick.

Action is needed in particular if the hedgehog:

  • is injured or bleeding
  • seems apathetic or does not roll up
  • staggers, walks in circles, wheezes or breathes heavily
  • is infested with flies, fly eggs or maggots
  • is noticeably thin or weak
  • lies unprotected in the sun for a long time
  • is a young hedgehog found obviously without its mother

  1. If possible, contact a hedgehog station before transporting the animal. The station can assess whether the hedgehog needs to be taken in and whether a care place is currently available.

    Hedgehog stations

  2. Until the handover, wearing gloves, you can place the hedgehog in a sufficiently high cardboard box. Line it with newspaper and a towel and put the box in a quiet place. Offer fresh water in a shallow dish. Never give the hedgehog cow’s milk and do not treat it yourself with medication or anti-parasite products.

Hedgehog stations in Basel and Basel-Landschaft

Admission capacities can change daily. Never bring a hedgehog to a station unannounced and never leave a box in front of a closed facility.

  • Igelhilfe Baselbiet

    The volunteer-run Igelhilfe Baselbiet operates stations in Binningen, Wahlen and Gempen. Gempen is in the canton of Solothurn, but geographically belongs to the Basel region.

    By prior arrangement, the stations look after injured, sick and orphaned hedgehogs. They receive no state funding and cover veterinary, medication, food and care costs mainly through donations.

    Igelstation Binningen

    Igelstation Gempen

    Igelstation Wahlen

    Igelhilfe Baselbiet also runs a station in Wahlen. A separate phone number for this station is not currently published on the official contact page.

    Please use the existing station contacts or e-mail to ask whether admission in Wahlen is possible:

    You can find up-to-date information on the website of Igel-Hilfe Baselbiet. There, the organisation confirms its three stations in Binningen, Wahlen and Gempen.

  • Igelnest Oberbaselbiet

    The association Igelnest Oberbaselbiet runs private hedgehog stations in Ormalingen and Tenniken. The stations care for sick and injured hedgehogs and rear orphaned young.

    Igelstation Ormalingen

    Igelstation Tenniken

    Shared e-mail address

    The same applies here: please only bring a hedgehog after arranging it by phone first. You can find more information from Igelnest Oberbaselbiet.

  • Tierschutz beider Basel

    Tierschutz beider Basel advises on questions about injured wild animals and wild animals in need. The organisation also runs a release station for hedgehogs at Hof Horn.

    A release station is not automatically an emergency or admission station accessible at all times. Please therefore check by phone where a found hedgehog should be taken.

If the hedgehog station cannot be reached:

Emergency numbers that charge a fee may incur higher call charges. For a seriously injured hedgehog, you can also contact a veterinary practice or animal clinic. Before setting off, call to ask whether they treat hedgehogs or wild animals.

Note on this regional information page · As of: August 2026

This page brings together information and contact points for hedgehog protection in Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. It is not a separate regional branch or a cantonal authority.

The hedgehog stations, animal welfare organisations and care stations listed are independent organisations. Responsibilities, availability and admission capacities can change at short notice. Please therefore always get in touch by phone first.

Cantonal contact points

The veterinary office is the right cantonal authority in particular for questions of animal welfare law, reports of problematic animal keeping or questions about care stations requiring a permit.

  • Veterinäramt Basel-Stadt

    The Kantonales Veterinäramt Basel-Stadt is responsible for enforcing legislation on animal welfare, animal health and species protection.

    It is not a hedgehog station and does not normally provide direct care for individual found animals. If a hedgehog is injured or sick, you should therefore first contact a hedgehog station or hedgehog emergency advice service.

  • Veterinärdienst Basel-Landschaft

    In the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the Amt für Lebensmittelsicherheit und Veterinärwesen is responsible for enforcing the legal provisions on animal health and animal welfare.

    This authority is not a hedgehog station either and has no regular care places for individual found animals.

Why the Basel region is a special habitat for hedgehogs

The two Basels combine densely built-up city districts, suburban municipalities, villages, farmland, forest edges, vineyards and the landscapes along the Rhine, Birs, Wiese and Ergolz rivers.

Hedgehogs find suitable habitats in particular in:

  • green residential neighbourhoods
  • allotment areas
  • parks and cemeteries
  • natural private gardens
  • hedges and planted embankments
  • orchards and structurally diverse village edges
  • transitions between settlements and farmland

In Basel-Stadt, for example, the many parks, cemeteries, allotments and green courtyards can be important refuges. What matters, however, is that these areas remain connected to one another.

Municipalities such as Binningen, Allschwil, Birsfelden, Münchenstein, Reinach, Aesch, Arlesheim, Muttenz, Liestal, Sissach, Ormalingen, Tenniken and Wahlen also offer hedgehogs suitable residential habitats.

Busy roads, railway lines, enclosed properties, walls and completely sealed surfaces are dangerous. The Rhine, the Birs and other waters can further separate habitats from one another. Cellar stairways, light wells, swimming pools and steep embankments quickly become traps without a way out.

Green residential neighbourhood near Bachletten in Basel from above, with gardens and trees
A hedgehog among stones and branches

How many hedgehogs live in the Basel region?

There is currently no scientifically established total number of hedgehogs in Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, use large home ranges and are not counted comprehensively across the cantons.

For the Basel region, however, comparatively good and up-to-date study data are available. As part of the projects “Freie Bahn für Igel” and “Igel im Birstal gesucht”, hedgehog occurrence was studied in 2024 and 2025 using sighting reports and footprint tunnels.

By the end of October 2025, a total of 591 reports of hedgehog sightings had been received from Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. However, this figure does not correspond to 591 different animals. A single hedgehog may have been seen and reported several times.

In the systematically studied areas, hedgehog tracks were found at least once in 18 of the 20 square kilometres evaluated. The study thus shows that hedgehogs still occur in most of the region’s residential areas studied.

For the entire area studied, a model-based average density of around 33 hedgehogs per square kilometre was calculated. In the separately studied Birstal, the figure was around 29 hedgehogs per square kilometre. Compared with other regions studied, these values are considered rather high.

However, these density values must not simply be extrapolated to the entire area of both cantons. Large forest areas, intensively farmed land, industrial sites and densely built-up urban areas offer very different living conditions. In addition, the study only covered selected residential areas.

A reliable total for Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft can therefore not be derived from this. Nor can the development of the regional population yet be reliably assessed, because comparable data from earlier years are lacking. The final report “Igel im Birstal gesucht” does, however, provide a valuable basis for later comparative studies.

Since 2022, the European hedgehog has been classified as “near threatened” on the Swiss Red List. Pro Natura chose it as Animal of the Year 2026 to draw attention to the loss of suitable habitats.

Newly created biodiversity area with deadwood and shrubs next to a commercial building

Protecting habitats in both Basels together

Hedgehog protection works across property, municipal and cantonal boundaries. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft are therefore working together in the project “Wilde Nachbarn beider Basel” to research and promote urban wildlife.

Private individuals, municipalities, schools, companies and farming and horticultural businesses can help to preserve safe routes and refuges.

In new developments and redesigns, not only individual green spaces but also their connection with neighbouring habitats should be taken into account. Permeable fences, native plants, unsealed surfaces and safe crossing points help hedgehogs and numerous other animal species.

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We are also available by phone and are happy to help you with advice and practical support.

Whether you are looking for our hedgehog magazine full of helpful tips, information about hedgehog talks or materials for school projects – we provide everything free of charge to promote the welfare of hedgehogs.

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Expert knowledge on the care and treatment of hedgehogs

Free hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants throughout Switzerland

Hedgehog Help Switzerland offers free hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants throughout Switzerland. These courses are specially tailored to veterinary practice assistants who want to familiarise themselves with the particularities of hedgehog care and acquire professional knowledge of the medical treatment and care of hedgehogs. In veterinary practices, hedgehogs need special attention and expert care that differs from other wild animals – and this is exactly where our hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants come in.

In our courses you will learn everything about caring for and treating hedgehogs in a way that suits the species. We cover important topics such as correct feeding, stress management during treatment and recognising typical hedgehog diseases. Our hedgehog courses are offered both at our hedgehog station and directly at your veterinary practice – we work throughout Switzerland and adapt to your location and your schedule.

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