Blog post
New notes, new me?
Eli Atkinson
October 21, 2026
On the 8th of October, after months of speculation, the Bank of England (BofE) published a press release announcing the four new animals to feature on the GBP£ banknotes, though which animal will go to which monetary value is yet to be publicly announced. They are:
There has been lots of discussion online about them: people saying which animals they did or didn’t want to see win. And although some close contenders would have made excellent choices, like the badger or red fox, we think it is good regardless that people will have a reminder of wildlife - especially some endangered wildlife, more on that later - each time they handle cash.
As the BBC pointed out, they’re not going to be the first banknotes in the UK to feature animals, as the current Scottish tender already features mackerel, otters, squirrels, and ospreys.
The BofE were clear to point out that it could be a few years before we see the next series of banknotes in common use, as the designs go through iterations and testing, and that the selected animals will be joined by other natural elements, potentially including some of the other shortlisted animals that didn’t make the vote.
Unfortunately, printing is a poor conservation technique.
According to the IUCN Red List, the European Hedgehog is considered Near-Threatened, with its population continuing to decline every day. They point to a range of factors, with the most significant one being harsh agricultural practices. Larger fields, fewer hedgerows (a crucial source of biodiversity and protection from predators), and use of pesticides causes the depletion of areas that hedgehogs could otherwise use to nest and forage.
The IUCN point out other threats, listed as less significant or negligible, with road traffic being a ‘major risk’ (it is estimated that between 150,000 to 350,000 hedgehogs are killed by vehicles each year),1 along with other urban-related hazards.
This isn’t a burden the hedgehog faces alone, it is joined by the Atlantic Puffin, itself considered a Vulnerable species with its own population also decreasing. The puffin is extremely susceptible to climate change. They are strongly impacted by rising sea temperatures, as the subsequent change in prey behaviour results in feeding seasons being misaligned with breeding seasons, leading to food shortages and poor chick success - on top of the already dwindling food supplies left after commercial fishing ships have been through the area. Not only that, climate change produces more frequent and more severe ocean storms which can cause the death of 10s or 100s of thousands of chicks, in one instance.2
It’s pretty difficult to denounce the BofE’s plan to include British wildlife on the next series of banknotes, especially when two of the planned four are at risk. This could be a very positive move for awareness and action around endangered species, especially those that are caused overwhelmingly by the climate crisis. We hope that having them on display like this will inspire change, small and large, for the protection of animals.
Would you feel compelled to do more for declining wildlife populations if they were visible on something commonplace like money, a persistent reminder?
New notes, new you?
1 Wembridge, D.E. et al. (2016) An estimate of the annual number of hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) road casualties in Great Britain. Mammal Communications 2, 8-14.
2 Anker-Nilssen, T. et al. (2003) Mass mortality of Atlantic Puffins in Norway. Atlantic Seabirds 5(2), 57-72.