Why the big deal about hedgehogs? There are many more important environmental issues such as protecting endangered species/ecosystems. Perhaps these people were damaged by reading Beatix Potter as a child.
Firstly, see jjimm’ comment above - we’re far more likely to see dead hedgehogs than any other animal, because they remain visible and identifiable for longer. Secondly, for the majority of people living in cities, they’re one of the few wild animals they’re likely to see. Thirdly, and most importantly, they’re really cute.
Updating this zombie thread hedgehog protection is no longer a laughing matter in Britain:
Yeah. As a loyal fan of the venerable BBC Radio 4 program(me) “Gardeners’ Question Time”, I have noticed that both professional and amateur gardeners in the UK are taking the decline in hedgehog populations quite seriously. Another cause that the above quote doesn’t mention is habitat destruction from increasing human population density, wildlife-unfriendly landscaping, etc.
Honestly, even when this thread was started there were serious concerns about hedgehog numbers declining. The trend was decidedly noticeable as early as the '90s, for those looking at such things, though the overall numbers were still higher.
If they would just share the hedge, they wouldn’t have this problem.
So . . . are you implying she in’t very good at her job? 
So *that’s *why hedgehog preserves are getting so expense!
Boooo! Shame! Hiss!
I had visions of hedgehogs dressed in mob suits and dark sunglasses, saying things like “That’s a nice garden you have there… be a shame if anything happened to it…”