Start of a new season!

We are officially announcing the start of a new season for The Hedgehog Program and with that, a lot of new things are on the horizon! From new volunteers to a new TikTok account and ofcourse the whole rebranding of our business in the past few months, there’s a lot to discuss.

Rebranding The Hedgehog Program

Since The Hedgehog Program started as a hobbyistic project, we’ve had the same logo. In 2019 the business was officially registered in the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and in the last year we have been shifting to a new approach. With that, we needed a new logo, a new website and new ‘house colors’. The new logo has been revealed in november of 2022. From a black silhouette of a hedgehog to a clean grey and green round logo with a hedgehog silhouette to still have the same feel, but a lot cleaner. The ‘house colors’ of the new website became the same colors and we are in the process of ordering matching work clothing!

The old logo is still in use for our secundary business: Egelwinkel.nl. This is a website that will be turned into a Dutch webshop with products focussing on the conservation of European hedgehogs that are still considered ‘at risk’ by the Dutch protective fauna organisations. The webshop will also contain several products to promote insect-friendly gardening to help maintain a healthy environment for European hedgehogs.

A new Tiktok account

As part of the rebranding, a new Tiktok account was created as a new way to educate people about hedgehogs and tenrecs. This new account is found under The Hedgehog Program on Tiktok and will be maintained by our CEO Judith Duinkerken. Sharing bits and pieces about our research and maybe even taking you on a summer night stroll looking for wild European hedgehogs, this Tiktok account is suposed to be a fun experience to make people aware of the species in a time where a lot of people feel disconnected to the nature around them. If you like the idea, make sure to follow us: @thehedgehogprogram.

Our first volunteers!

Now that we’ve rebranded with a completely new website, a new logo, a new approach and a new social media account, it was about time to start venturing into hiring people. Unfortunately with our very limited funds and the eager goal to do more research and education, we had to decide to hire volunteers. At least for now, that is. So we asked for volunteers on our Facebook page and within a day, three lovely people had already volunteered to be a part of our business!

Sarah Bessie

I’m an animal lover with a particular passion for African pygmy hedgehogs. Having completed my zoology diploma, I am now dedicating my time to collecting as many qualifications in animal biology and care as possible with a view to devoting my life to the increased wellbeing of this species through education and rescue efforts.

In my free time I run an Instagram page @hedge_chef to empower hedgehog keepers with the skills and resources to make independent, informed decisions about what optimal hedgehog care looks like on a case by case basis.

Lizl van Vreden

I am from South Africa, my hedgery is Awesome Krimpvarkies. I am very passionate about hedgehogs, African Pygmy Hedgehogs and Southern African Hedgehogs in particular. I am also the head of the South Africa’s Hedgehogs Breeders Association. Most of my time outside work are dedicated to hedgehogs; learning more and reading up existing study papers, educating people regarding hedgehogs.

Nikki Kulak

I am located in Arizona, USA. I have been in the exotic world for over 20 years. I have owned/rescued a variety of reptiles and warm blooded creatures along with bottle fed baby bunnies, squirrels and cats.

I got my first African pygmy hedgehog just after they were legalized to own in AZ in 2016. I instantly feel in love and entered the breeding world starting Sonoran Desert Hedgehogs. My goal is not only to better the species through carefully tracking pedigrees, but bettering the husbandry and the provided nutrition for hedgehogs kept as pets in captivity to give the best life possible.