Could this be your dream job? Suffolk Wildlife Trust begins recruiting for an Ipswich Hedgehog Officer

Look sharp, because Suffolk Wildlife Trust are head-hunting for a Hedgehog Officer.

The trust needs someone who can help Ipswich – recently ranked as a hedgehog hotspot – become the UK’s most hedgehog-friendly town.

The 2016 Suffolk Hedgehog Survey and a Wildlife Audit conducted earlier this year highlighted the town as an area with a “remarkably rich” and “well connected” wildlife habitat.

Successful applicants will establish a street by street network of hedgehog accessible habitats while monitoring hedgehog activity, following the ‘Hedgehog Street’ model developed by British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

Experience of ecological surveying, leading and developing community-based conservation activities and engaging effectively with a wide range of people is essential, the trust has said.

Other responsibilities include running hedgehog roadshows, to encourage community involvement and recruiting hedgehog champions, who will play an active role in inspiring others to join in and co-ordinate neighbourhood monitoring activity.

The number of hedgehogs, an endangered species, have “dropped alarmingly” in the last ten years, according to the trust.

“We fear up to a third of the UK’s hedgehogs have been lost,” the trust says on their website.

“They seem to be disappearing from urban, suburban and rural areas, suggesting there are multiple factors involved, rather than a single cause. This is why the trust is leading a county-wide call to action, to stand up for hedgehogs, before it’s too late.”

The job, based at the trust’s Ipswich branch near Ashbocking, pays £24,000 a year for a two-year contract.

To apply, which hopefuls must do by July 13, visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org.