Hartpury University’s resident hedgehog expert Lucy Bearman-Brown is helping to train a special ‘detection dog’ to sniff out hedgehogs so they can be moved out of harm’s way in land development projects.

Lucy, who has appeared on national TV and radio, has teamed up with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to work with a springer spaniel called Henry, one of a group of conservation dogs from Conservation K9 Consultancy.

By training dogs like Henry, whose sense of smell is 100,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, it’s hoped nesting hedgehogs can be found and moved to safety before their habitat is cleared for development.