--- description: A wildlife group in England is on the hunt for its next “Hedgehog Officer” who will turn Ipswich into the “most hedgehog friendly” town. title: 'Hedgehog Officer' Is a Real Job and This Town Is Hiring image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2e2fa5bc797e2e1/69889abfab6d770bb06aa53f/hedgehog-officer.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Hedgehog Officer' Is a Real Job and This Town Is Hiring  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2016 9:48 PM CUT  FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - JANUARY 22: A hedgehog is seen during a press conference by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to encourage people who own exotic pets like the hedgehog to turn them in during the Exotic Pet Amnesty Program on January 22, 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.The program scheduled for Saturday is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative species being released into the wild by pet owners who can no longer care for their pets or no longer wish to keep them. Amnesty Day events are held around the state to provide the opportunity for people to surrender their nonnative pets free of charge with no penalties. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - JANUARY 22: A hedgehog is seen during a press conference by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to encourage people who own exotic pets like the hedgehog to turn them in during the Exotic Pet Amnesty Program on January 22, 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.The program scheduled for Saturday is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative species being released into the wild by pet owners who can no longer care for their pets or no longer wish to keep them. Amnesty Day events are held around the state to provide the opportunity for people to surrender their nonnative pets free of charge with no penalties. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2016 9:48 PM CUT A wildlife group in England is on the hunt for its next “[Hedgehog Officer](http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/jobs/ipswich-hedgehog-officer "undefined")” who officials hope will turn the town of Ipswich into the “most [hedgehog](http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/building-a-hedgehog-friendly-town/ "undefined") friendly” area in the United Kingdom. Job seekers have until next Wednesday to apply for the full-time role that involves transforming Ipswich — a town fragmented by houses, roads and gardens — into a flourishing habitat for the spiny mammals that populate the area. That involves motivating residents to remove “barriers” like fences and walls to allow the animals to move freely across town and leading hands-on training events and an awareness campaign alerting the public to their needs, [Suffolk Wildlife Trust](http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/about "undefined") says in its job listing. “We are looking for an inspirational individual who will be the face of hedgehog conservation in Ipswich,” the listing says. “Bringing together your wildlife conservation skills and your experience of leading and developing community wildlife initiatives, you will mobilize participants in Ipswich to create a street by street network of hedgehog accessible habitat and monitor hedgehog activity.” The [job](http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/sites/default/files/job%5Fdescription%5F-%5Fipswich%5Fhedgehog%5Fofficer.pdf "undefined") lasts for at least two years and pays about $31,000. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4394093/hedgehog-officer-ipswich/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4394093/hedgehog-officer-ipswich/"},"headline":"'Hedgehog Officer' Is a Real Job and This Town Is Hiring","datePublished":"2016-07-05T21:48:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:52:15.372Z","description":"Best job in the world?","url":"https://time.com/4394093/hedgehog-officer-ipswich/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2e2fa5bc797e2e1/69889abfab6d770bb06aa53f/hedgehog-officer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2e2fa5bc797e2e1/69889abfab6d770bb06aa53f/hedgehog-officer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Florida Officials Hold Exotic Pet Amnesty Opportunity","caption":"","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4394093/hedgehog-officer-ipswich/","name":"'Hedgehog Officer' Is a Real Job and This Town Is Hiring"}}]}] ```