The British public is being asked to keep an eye out for spectacular stag beetles this summer and record any sightings online, as part of a wildlife charity’s national Great Stag Hunt survey. The Great Stag Hunt, run by People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), has been running for over 25 years. Native stag beetles …

Outside your window, there are some ferocious predators: from insects to insectivores, and caterpillars to cats, fierce carnivores prowl around every corner. A lot of wild mammals, although not strictly carnivores, will eat other animals occasionally. But one group is known for it: the Carnivora, which includes the cat-, dog- and weasel families. They are …

Returning dormice to Leicestershire This week, we’ve reintroduced over 20 rare hazel dormice into a secret woodland location in Leicestershire, creating the county’s only known population of the tiny mammals. This is a landmark conservation effort which will bring rare hazel dormice back to an area where they once existed. This summer’s release builds on …

Landmark conservation effort aims to restore rare hazel dormice, classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List for Britain’s Mammals, to combat the national decline of 70% since 2000 This week, over 20 rare hazel dormice have been reintroduced into a secret woodland location in Leicestershire by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) …

2025 marks a decade of the National Water Vole Monitoring Programme (NWVMP) – a huge milestone for the UK’s largest citizen science survey dedicated to water voles. Over the past decade, thousands of volunteers have submitted records of water voles from more than 2,200 sites nationwide. To everyone who has taken part: thank you. Whether …

Many species that are habitat specialists – organisms that rely on specific environments or food sources – are declining in what is becoming a worrying trend. One such specialist facing this threat is hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius), a species intimately linked with certain woodland habitats. Dormouse populations in Britain have plummeted by a staggering 78% …

Overall 2024 was a warm and unsettled year for the UK. It was the fourth warmest year on record in Britain. Eight months had temperatures above their usual average, with February being the second warmest on record, May the warmest, and December the fifth warmest. Winter and spring were both well above average for mean …

Charity calls for help surveying water voles as part of national effort to save Britain’s fastest declining mammal Wildlife conservation charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is calling for volunteers across England, Scotland and Wales to survey for water voles this spring as part of ongoing national efforts to save this endearing yet endangered …

New applications for the Sustainable Farming Initiatives (SFIs) have been suspended with no warning. A Defra press release optimistically framed this as ‘having reached its completion’ as the budget had been ‘successfully allocated’. There will be a reset and a new scheme will be announced in summer this year. But what does this mean in …

Charity asks for help recording wildlife in gardens, parks and other urban green spaces Volunteers across the UK are being asked to become ‘wildlife detectives’ this spring by searching their gardens, parks and other urban green spaces for wild mammals and recording their findings online. Conservationists at leading wildife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species …

Road casualties tell us something about the living You might think a field guide to identifying ‘roadkill’ was unnecessarily macabre, but as Roger Knutson explains in his 1987 book, Flattened Fauna, ‘in becoming part of the road fauna … an animal loses not only its life but also … most of its mass and much …

Charity asks for help recording endangered wildlife in gardens, parks and on local riverbanks Volunteers across the UK are being asked to search their gardens, local green spaces or riverbanks this spring in a bid to help endangered wildlife, as part of a leading wildlife charity’s annual spring surveys. Starting in March, wildlife conservation charity …