Tentative programme for:
The International Conference for Hedgehog Professionals 2026
Saturday the 17th of January 2026
08:30: Conference registration opens
Coffee, tea and breakfast is served
9:30-9:45: Dorthe Madsen & Sophie Lund Rasmussen: “Welcome to the International Conference for Hedgehog Rehabilitators”
09:45-10:00: Keynote opening speech. To be announced.
Session: Principles and practices of wildlife rehabilitation. Chair: To be announced
10:00-10:20: Peter Sandøe: “Should we always let nature take its course?”
10:20-10:40: Paul Reynolds: “The BWRC’s 10 Principles of Wildlife Rehabilitation: A Framework for UK Standards and Regulation”
10:40-11:00: Emma Ormiston: “Why Hedgehogs Need Help: Common Causes for Wildlife Rehabilitation”
11:00-11:30: Coffee break
Session: Hedgehog diets. Chair: Sophie Lund Rasmussen
11:30-11:50: Lea Grayston-Smith: “Tracking changes in in the diet of the UK’s Western European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) over a 100-year timeframe using stable isotope analysis”
11:50-12:10: Anja Varmløse Strathe, Rebecca Victoria Marquard Bay & Simone Lorenzen “Food choice and stomach characteristics based on macroscopic analyses of deceased European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) from various regions of Denmark”
12:10-12:20: Carys Harry: “A Macroscopic Investigation of Kidney Disease in a Danish Population of European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)”
12:20-12:30: Sophie Lund Rasmussen: “eDNA analyses of hedgehog faeces to determine diet”
12:30-13:30: Lunch
Session: Exploring the health and anatomy of hedgehogs. Chair: Sophie Lund Rasmussen
13:30-13:50: Dylan Yaffy: “Hedgehog Health and Disease at the Royal Veterinary College”
13:50-14:10: Henrik Lauridsen & Aage Kristian Olsen Alstrup: “Post-mortem micro-CT scans of European hedgehogs enabling detailed 3D reconstructions of the inner ear and whole body”
14:10-14:30: Heidi Thomsen: ”Hearing in the European hedgehog”
Session: Pollutants in hedgehogs. Chair: To be announced
14:50-15:10: Catarina Jota Baptista (ONLINE): ”European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) as bioindicators of heavy metal(loid)s pollution in Portugal: a One Health perspective”
15:10-15:30: Emily Thrift: “Assessing the presence of plastics within the European hedgehog diet”
15:30-16:00: Coffee break
Session: Genetics and hedgehogs in clinical practice. Chair: To be announced
16:00- 16:20: Elaine O’Riordan: “Mitochondrial DNA reveals diversity in Irish hedgehog population”
16:20-16:40: Katrien Franssen: ”Hedgehogs in clinical practice”
16:40-17:10: Rikke Hansen: “How do we assess pain, when pain can’t be measured? And how do we handle that pain”?
And finally, an important and uplifting last talk of the day
17:15-17:45: Hugh Warwick: “Keyboard Warriors”
17:45-18:00: Group photo
18:00-19:00: Poster session and reception
19:00: Conference dinner
Sunday the 18th of January 2026
8:30: Doors open
Coffee, tea and breakfast is served
Session: Infections in hedgehogs. Chair: Dylan Yaffy
9:00-9:20: Hannah Davies: ”Hedgehog arterivirus-1 in European hedgehogs in England and Wales: an update”
9:40-10:00: Vicki Oliver: Hedgehog arterivirus-1 in wild European Hedgehogs – a Rescue centre perspective
10:20-10:40: Amaury Van Goethem: ”A Year of Hedgehog Necropsies: Insights into Salmonella”
10:40-11:00 Coffee break
Session: Launching WildlifeRecords. Chairs: Sophie Lund Rasmussen & Lucy Bearman-Brown
11:00-12:00: Introducing WildlifeRecords, a free wildlife data management tool
12:00-13:00: Lunch
Session: Hedgehog parasites. Chair: To be announced
13-13:20: Angelique Lofaro: ”Prevalence of ringworm in Atelerix algirus in Malta – Preliminary data report”
13:20-13:40: Brawin Kumar: ”Parasitic Pressure and Behavioural Constraints in the Madras Hedgehog: Evidence from Urban and Semi-Arid Grasslands in Tamil Nadu”
13:40-14:00: Ann Wairimu Kinyanjui: ”Next generation sequencing based detection of microbial pathogens in ticks from Danish hedgehogs”
14:00-14:30 Coffee break
Session: Hedgehog conservation in action. Chair: Lucy Bearman-Brown
14:30-14:50: Grace Johnson: “Hedgehog conservation in the UK: Strategy, monitoring and engagement”
14:50-15:10: Vicky Grant & Thomas Churchyard: “From Uist to the Mainland: Designing Scotland’s First Hedgehog Release Strategy”
15:10-15:30: “Hedgehogs and robotic lawn mowers”
15:30-15:50: Diane and Andrew Cook: “When Nerds Nurture Nature – Project HEDGE: A Nationwide Platform for Passive Hedgehog Monitoring and Research Collaboration”
15:50-16: Rounding off the conference
Farewell tea, coffee and snacks are served
Thank you & get home safely!
