Seven-year-old Sienna, a Year 2 pupil at the International School Michel Lucius, recently sent a letter to RTL with a simple request: help spread the word that Luxembourg's hedgehogs need protecting.
The project began after the class read The Hodgeheg, a children's book about a hedgehog. Clarke said one pupil asked, "What's a hedgehog?", prompting the class to look into the species and discover that hedgehog numbers have declined over the years.
The project soon grew beyond the classroom. Pupils created drawings, wrote texts about hedgehogs and even built small shelters for them in their free time.
Through their research, the children discovered several ways people can help hedgehogs.
One important lesson was never to give them milk, as it can make them ill. If people want to leave food out for hedgehogs, cat food is a much better option.
The class also learned about the important role hedgehogs play in gardens by feeding on slugs and insects.
Alex said hedgehogs "eat the slugs" that damage vegetables, adding that "without them, we'd have less food."
The pupils gathered information from documentaries by David Attenborough, the Dudelange Wildlife Care Centre website and the biodiversity platform iNaturalist.lu.
Lourenço explained that pesticides are another major threat.
"They're poisonous for slugs, and hedgehogs eat the slugs. Then they eat the poison too and die," he said.
The children are also encouraging homeowners to create "hedgehog highways" by leaving small gaps in garden fences so the animals can move safely between gardens instead of crossing busy roads.
The pupils agree on one thing: hedgehogs deserve protection.
"They don't deserve to die", Alex said. "They do a good job."
The European hedgehog population has declined in recent years. In 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the species as "Near Threatened". In countries where populations are monitored, numbers have fallen by between 16% and 33% over the past decade.
Luxembourg, however, has no official estimate of its hedgehog population.
As part of the project, the children also explored iNaturalist.lu, where the public can upload photographs of plants and animals to help scientists monitor biodiversity.
Sienna believes greater public participation is essential and says the children "really want to save the hedgehogs". They hope more people will use iNaturalist to report sightings, helping conservationists monitor the species.
The class has written not only to RTL but also to David Attenborough and Luxembourg's Minister for the Environment, hoping to raise awareness of the issue.
So far, however, they have not received a reply from the minister.
