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Hedgehog help in the canton of Bern

Have you found an injured, sick or unusual hedgehog in the canton of Bern? On this page you will find regional hedgehog stations, important emergency numbers and information on how you can protect hedgehogs in Bernese gardens, settlements and green spaces.

In the canton of Bern, the hedgehog lives mainly in green residential neighbourhoods, gardens, parks, villages and on structurally diverse settlement edges. There it finds hedges, leaf piles, hiding places and food. At the same time, busy roads, sealed surfaces, impassable garden fences, pesticides and robotic lawnmowers operated at night are among its greatest dangers.

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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 and contact points in the canton of Bern

Please always call a station before bringing a hedgehog there. Capacities, animal admission times and responsibilities can change at short notice.

  • Stiftung Wildstation Landshut

    The Stiftung Wildstation Landshut in Utzenstorf takes in native wild animals and also cares for injured, sick or weakened hedgehogs. Animal admission is generally open every day. You must contact them by phone before transporting the animal.

    The current contact and admission times are published by the Stiftung Wildstation Landshut.

    Please register every hedgehog by phone before transporting it. The care places available may be limited depending on the season and occupancy.

  • Igelstation Rosmarie Blaser – Tierschutz Region Thun

    The hedgehog station in Schwanden bei Sigriswil is a regional contact point for hedgehogs in need from the Bernese Oberland and the Thun region.

    The station is also listed in the currently available Switzerland-wide contact list of the Igelzentrum.

    Please register every hedgehog by phone before transporting it. The care places available may be limited depending on the season and occupancy.

  • Tierschutzverein Biel/Bienne–Seeland–Jura bernois

    At the Tierheim Rosel animal shelter in Brügg, hedgehogs in need also receive expert care. Please check by phone before transporting the animal whether it can be taken in.

    Please register every hedgehog by phone before transporting it. The care places available may be limited depending on the season and occupancy.

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 the canton of Bern. It is not a separate regional branch or a cantonal authority. The hedgehog stations listed are independent organisations or private care stations. Admission conditions, responsibilities and capacities can change at any time.

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.

  • Amt für Veterinärwesen des Kantons Bern

    The Amt für Veterinärwesen des Kantons Bern is responsible for enforcing animal health and animal welfare legislation. This includes ensuring that the needs of wild animals kept and cared for by people are respected.

    However, the office is not a hedgehog emergency station and does not normally take on the direct care of individual found animals. If you find an injured or weakened hedgehog, you should therefore contact a hedgehog station first.

  • Game wardens of the Canton of Bern

    In the Canton of Bern, game wardens are the people to contact when sick, injured or dead wild animals are found. The cantonal main number will put you through to the person responsible for your region.

    You can find the game warden responsible for your area using the official search of the Canton of Bern.

    • 0800 940 100
    • Availability: daily 07:00–19:00 – outside these hours: police on 117

    If a hedgehog is weakened or sick but not in immediate danger, contact a hedgehog station first. In the case of a seriously injured animal, a road accident involving wildlife or an acute emergency, contact the game wardens or the police.

Hedgehog sightings in the Canton of Bern

Sightings from the Canton of Bern can be reported on stadtwildtiere.ch. Such reports help specialist bodies detect changes in distribution at an early stage.

Why the Canton of Bern is challenging for hedgehogs

The Canton of Bern has great differences in landscape and climate. It extends from the densely populated Swiss Plateau and the urban areas of Bern, Biel and Thun to rural regions, valleys and alpine areas.

Hedgehogs live mainly at lower altitudes, in built-up areas and in varied, richly structured farmland. There, however, they encounter increasingly dense residential areas, busy traffic routes and intensively farmed agricultural land.

Hedgehogs need habitats that are connected to one another. On their nightly search for food they sometimes cover long distances. Walls, close-meshed fences, light wells, steps, busy roads and completely tidied gardens can interrupt their routes or become deadly traps.

Gardens and green spaces in Bern, Biel, Thun, Burgdorf, Langenthal, Köniz, Ostermundigen, Münsingen, Interlaken and the surrounding municipalities are therefore important places of refuge.

Hilly farmland in the Emmental near the Lueg with meadows, woodland edges and farmsteads
A hedgehog among stones

How many hedgehogs live in the Canton of Bern?

There is currently no official or scientifically verified population figure for the Canton of Bern as a whole. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, move across large areas and are not systematically recorded individually. Sighting reports therefore do not allow a reliable estimate of the total population.

For the city of Bern, however, concrete research data are available: in the citizen science project “Igel gesucht”, a total of 298 reports of hedgehog sightings were received between May and September 2018. In addition, 258 footprint tunnels were set up. Hedgehogs were detected in 133 tunnels – around 51 per cent.

The study showed that at that time hedgehogs still occurred in many neighbourhoods of the city of Bern and almost throughout the city. At the same time, some gaps in distribution were identified. The figures document occurrence and distribution, but not the number of individual animals. City of Bern: “Igel gesucht” project

Stone blocks, branches and young shrubs as habitat next to a commercial building

Protecting habitats in the Canton of Bern together

Private individuals, schools, municipalities, businesses, farms and horticultural businesses can all help to make the Canton of Bern safer for hedgehogs. What matters is not just individual natural gardens, but connected and permeable green spaces.

Particularly helpful are:

  • gaps of approximately 13 × 13 centimetres in fences and walls
  • native hedges, shrubs and wild plants
  • leaf piles, brush piles and deadwood piles as hiding places
  • secured light wells, steps and water basins
  • not using pesticides and slug pellets
  • robotic lawnmowers that are used only during the day and under supervision
  • careful checks before mowing or removing leaf piles

Hedgehog Help Switzerland provides information material, helps raise public awareness and shares knowledge about protecting, caring for and correctly handling hedgehogs.

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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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