First hedgehog rescue centre opens in Zug

The first hedgehog rescue and rehabilitation centre in the canton of Zug has opened in Rotkreuz. During a visit to the centre, manager Isabel Lenk explains why the wild animals are at risk of extinction.
 

There is a faint squeaking from one grey plastic box, while another emits a rattling sound. The smell of wild animals hangs in the air. The windows are protected by insect screens, and the sound of church bells drifts into the small room on the third floor of the Dorfmatt centre in Rotkreuz.

Isabel Lenk, a board member of the Zug Hedgehog Rescue Association (Igelhilfe Kanton Zug), removes the netting from one of the boxes. She lifts the lid and explains: “Bubi, Flora and Gina live here.” She carefully pulls back a towel and lifts one of the baby hedgehogs out of the box. Bubi is three weeks old, visibly weak and slightly underweight. “His mother was run over, and left him and his two sisters behind,” she adds.

According to Isabel Lenk, hedgehogs are currently struggling in Switzerland, particularly in rapidly developing areas such as the canton of Zug. “New housing developments are increasingly taking away the habitat of animals that live alongside us. The hedgehog population in Switzerland has fallen by 40% over the past 15 years.”

The main problems encountered at the centre are internal parasites, illnesses and injuries, and the heat of recent months is also continuing to take its toll. “When mother hedgehogs can no longer find enough food, they abandon their young.”

Hedgehogs are also regularly injured by robotic lawnmowers and garden strimmers. “Or they are used as footballs by children,” as recalls Lenk one case.

Hedgehog Friedli has made it. Centre manager Isabel Lenk has successfully nursed her back to health, and Friedli can now be released back into the wild.
Baby hedgehog Bubi is a three-week-old orphaned partial albino.                              
The hedgehogs live in these care boxes at the rescue centre. Special cases, such as babies or animals with a fractured hip, are housed in the slightly smaller boxes on the left.         
How a healthy curled-up hedgehog looks like from underneath.
Isabel Lenk, president of the Zug Hedgehog Rescue Association, at the new hedgehog rehabilitation centre in Dorfmatt, Rotkreuz.                             Photos: Roman Loeffel

How can you tell if a hedgehog is ill?

• It is out during the day.
• It is severely underweight.
• It is injured.
• It is lying in the sun.
• Its body is elongated rather than rounded.
• Its reactions are sluggish, or it no longer curls up.
   

How can garden owners help?

• Put out shallow bowls of water.
• Leave wild areas of the garden undisturbed.
• Create areas where insects can thrive. Insects account for 80% of a hedgehog’s diet.
• Do not use robotic lawnmowers at night.
• Leave piles of leaves and branches as places for hedgehogs to shelter.
• Avoid using pesticides.
   

Hedgehog care was previously funded privately
To improve the chances of survival for animals such as Bubi, Isabel Lenk has opened the first professional hedgehog rescue centre in the canton of Zug. She’s currently caring for eight hedgehogs, with the three babies sharing one box.

“The aim is eventually to provide space for 10 to 14 orphaned, injured and weakened hedgehogs from the region. The demand is enormous.” She estimates that the centre could help between 100 and 120 animals a year. The centre can accommodate a maximum of seven adult hedgehogs at a time. “The babies can share a box at first,” she explains,.

Care boxes, food and medication, as well as veterinary treatment, all cost money. She has financed the care of the hedgehogs herself for the past seven years – and has looked after the animals single-handedly.

The association is now relying on donations to expand the new centre. Caring for a single hedgehog can cost up to  CHF 1,500. An animal will normally remain at the rescue centre for around three weeks before being released at the location where it was found or being relocated elsewhere.

“The number of animals requiring care in Central Switzerland has doubled over the past five years, and the rescue centres regularly reach capacity,” she explains.

She has been involved with hedgehog rescue for more than seven years, first as a founding member of Igelhilfe Luzern and now as head of the organisation in the canton of Zug.

Her passion began with her first hedgehog rescue
She only discovered her passion for hedgehogs a few years ago. “When I found my first baby hedgehogs in the Suurstoffi in 2019, that was it,” says the German-born 49-year-old who lives in Rotkreuz.

Since then, she has nursed around 1,000 hedgehogs back to health in a converted living room at her home. This has meant feeding them by hand every two and a half hours – including during the night.

Lenk spends every spare minute with the animals. “I sometimes even have to hold a hedgehog up to the camera during a meeting when I’m working from home,” says the Roche team coach.

Bubi and his sisters were found in a garden in Buonas. Once at the centre, their faeces were first tested for diseases and parasites in the centre’s own laboratory. The babies are fed by hand and given medication if necessary. “I still take them home with me at night.”

Once the young hedgehogs reach a weight of around 500 to 600 grams and are healthy, they can be released into the wild. But there are also “problem cases” that don’t survive despite weeks of care, she adds, looking worriedly at Chayenne in the bottom box. She has been fighting for her life for a month.

Hedgehogs could be almost extinct in 20 years
Isabel Lenk has had permission to operate her rescue centre in Dorfmatt for two and a half years. After that, the building will make way for a new development. “I’m extremely grateful to the municipality of Risch for allowing me to use this room, after three years of unsuccessful searching. And they are letting me use it free of charge!”

Isabel Lenk is convinced that urgent action is needed. “If we don’t act now, we may hardly see any hedgehogs in the next 20 years,” she says worriedly, gazing affectionately at Bubi.

Death is also part of the job
Then the telephone rings. “An injured hedgehog on a building site.” Isabel Lenk prepares a transport box and an emergency kit. A construction worker arrives with a cardboard box containing the hedgehog. The animal is not moving.

The visibly distressed worker explains that the hedgehog was caught in a forklift while pallets were being loaded. Isabel Lenk carefully moves its tiny arms and legs and gently touches its little nose. It quickly becomes clear that the little creature has not survived.

“Sadly, that is part of the job,” she says, her eyes filled with sadness. But there is no time to dwell on it.

The baby hedgehogs are waiting inside: it’s time for their next feed. If they continue to thrive, they will be ready to return to the wild in a few weeks.
“That’s exactly why I do all this.”

Volunteers and donations needed
The Zug Hedgehog Rescue Association (Igelhilfe Kanton Zug) was founded in October 2025. Its president is Larissa Borell from Baar. The hedgehog centre opened on the 11th August 2026, and is run by Isabel Lenk.

To give more hedgehogs a genuine chance of survival in future, the association needs volunteers. Anyone interested can contact centre manager Lenk at info@igelhilfe-zg.ch](mailto:info@igelhilfe-zg.ch).

“I can always use additional help,” says the Rotkreuz resident.

Volunteers are needed for tasks including transporting hedgehogs, building sleeping and feeding shelters, cleaning and general animal care.

Child-friendly guided tours available
From September, the new rescue centre will hold training sessions and information events once a month.
“But the visitors cannot feed or touch the hedgehogs, because they are wild animals and we have to comply with strict regulations,” Lenk explains. Visitors will, however, be able to observe the animals during the tours.

Admission is free, but registration is required. According to Isabel Lenk, the talks will be designed to be suitable for children.

The project is still being developed. More information about the tours and the association will be available on the ‘Igelhilfe Kanton Zug’ website (https://www.igelhilfe-zg.ch/) in the coming weeks. Donations can also be made through the website.