Hedgehogs are special and endangered where they came from in Great Britain, but are strangers and key predators to New Zealand’s wildlife. They eat eggs, ground-nesting chicks, lizards and invertebrates every night.
In fact, in suburban areas they’re more of a biodiversity threat than stoats, which are rarely encountered. You’re unlikely to catch a hedgehog in your backyard trap, but DOC200 traps (used in parks and reserves) do help keep the hedgehog numbers down.
Predator Free NZ have come up with 7 surprising facts about hedgehogs. If you still need convincing that hedgehogs are a pest, watch Last March of the Hedgehogs (5min).