This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: How can we tell when a hedgehog is stressed? Ph.D. researcher Emily Harper explains how her new research has validated a non-invasive method for measuring stress by analyzing hormones in hedgehog feces.
The method could help researchers understand how different stressors, or threats, affect hedgehog health and welfare, supporting conservation and rehabilitation of this declining species. Stress is a natural response to danger, helping animals react quickly when they feel threatened. Usually, the response is short-lived, and once the threat passes, stress levels return to normal.
Environmental changes that reduce or fragment habitats, declining food availability and human activity can all affect wildlife. If a stress response is prolonged, chronic stress can occur, reducing immunity, negatively affecting reproduction and litter success, and increasing mortality rates. For species like the European hedgehog, which is already declining, identifying what causes stress could provide vital clues about the challenges they face and support conservation efforts.
As an "indicator species," hedgehogs can provide insights into the ecosystem's overall health. They are also the most rescued mammal, with estimates suggesting around 40,000 hedgehogs are in captivity in the U.K. at any time. Understanding hedgehog responses to stress could also help improve treatment and welfare during rehabilitation.
For wild animals, captivity, handling, examination and veterinary treatment can all increase stress in an already compromised animal. Identifying ways to minimize this could aid recovery, and measuring stress would enable post-release monitoring to assess how hedgehogs adapt once returned to the wild. In our new research, published in Conservation Physiology, we validated a method for measuring stress in European hedgehogs by analyzing hormones in their feces.
This provides researchers with a reliable, noninvasive way to investigate how hedgehogs respond to different stressors, both in the wild and in rehabilitation. When an animal feels threatened, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis triggers the release of hormones that help it respond to danger—the fight-or-flight response. Once the threat has passed, glucocorticoids—cortisol and/or corticosterone—are released to help the body return to normal.
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