Desert hedgehog

Weight

352.4 g – 404 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

5.33 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Carnivoresrc for Diet

Longest recorded lifespan

6.3 years

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

Not recorded

Gestation

36.7 dayssrc for Gestation

Young per litter or clutch

3.49src for Young per litter or clutch

Litters or clutches a year

1src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

At night (nocturnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The desert hedgehog is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classMammalia
4. orderEulipotyphla
5. familyErinaceidae
6. genusParaechinus
7. SpeciesParaechinus aethiopicus (Ehrenberg, 1832)

Synonyms Erinaceus aethiopicus, Hemiechinus aethiopicus, Paraechinus aethiopicus aethiopicus, Paraechinus aethiopicus albatus, Paraechinus aethiopicus deserti, Paraechinus aethiopicus ludlowi, Paraechinus aethiopicus pectoralis

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

Brandt's hedgehog

Paraechinus hypomelas

Erinaceidae

LC, Least Concern

Indian hedgehog

Paraechinus micropus

Erinaceidae

LC, Least Concern

Bare-bellied hedgehog

Paraechinus nudiventris

Erinaceidae

P

Paraechinus amir

ErinaceidaeNo free photo yet

CompareDesert hedgehog vs Brandt's hedgehogDesert hedgehog vs Indian hedgehogDesert hedgehog vs Bare-bellied hedgehogDesert hedgehog vs Paraechinus amir

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
  Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{desert_hedgehog_2026,
  title = {Desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-hedgehog},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}