Overview

• Several municipalities including Cologne and Mainz have enforced or will soon implement prohibitions on nighttime operation of robotic lawn mowers.
• The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research logged 370 hedgehog injuries from robotic mowers between June 2022 and October 2023, nearly half of which proved fatal.
• Conservation groups cite habitat loss, road traffic and declining insect numbers as additional factors driving the national hedgehog population downturn.
• Although manufacturers like Stihl have added ultrasound sensors and disc-cut systems, University of Aalborg trials found that none of the current mower models reliably detect hedgehogs before impact.
• Homeowners are advised to fence off sections of their gardens to create refuge zones for hedgehogs, and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation plans to issue technical guidelines for wildlife-friendly mowers in 2026.