David Talbot describes his experience volunteering this summer with the Back On Our Map (BOOM), Natural England and Morecambe Bay Partnership (MBP) during the landmark release of the 1000th hazel dormouse in Britain, as part of PTES’ National Dormouse Reintroduction Programme. Getting involved in citizen science My experience as a volunteer started pre Covid-19 in …

Supporter Kenneth Phipps sheds light on some of Britain’s smallest and often overlooked mammals. The British mainland has three species of shrew, common, pygmy, and water shrew, and all of these little insectivores have intriguing lifestyles. Shrinking shrews Common, pygmy and water shrews undergo a sudden reduction in body weight during winter. This isn’t due …

Staycationers asked to record roadkill via free app, to help conserve Britain’s mammals Volunteers across England, Scotland and Wales are being asked to record any sightings of roadkill that they see on Britain’s roads via a free app, to help conservation. The Mammals on Roads app is part of wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered …

Living alongside predators When you live alongside large cats, it’s not always easy to be a fan of wildlife. “A lot of people are simply unaware of the devastating impacts that a single crop loss or livestock predation incident can have on a family. If a herd of elephants come by, they can wipe out …

Despite the fact that Scotland’s red squirrel numbers have dropped hugely in recent decades, it is still home to 75% of our UK population. This makes it extremely important that we ensure Scotland’s endangered red squirrels have a secure future. We’ve been funding intern George Porton, who is part of the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels initiative. …

Lemurs’ need for trees Across Madagascar 90% of littoral forest – that’s the forest found on the shore that has adapted to grow on the sand– has been lost due to human activities. Much of it is still under threat, mainly from slash and burn agriculture and mining projects. There are some animals which are …

In the fields and forests of Bulgaria, Nedko Nedyalkov and his team have been avidly looking for evidence of Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse over the past year. This mouse-tailed dormouse is one of the Europe’s rarest mammal species and is only found in the border area of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. For forty years there had …

Scientists from ZSL (Zoological Society of London)’s London HogWatch programme have found hotspots of native hedgehog populations in the north and west of London, compared to the south east of the city. The research, led by Rachel Cates – an Intern funded by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) – and supported by …

Studying in the rain has its challenges Conducting field research in the tropics is challenging. Working in the Peruvian Amazon during the rainy season, between November and April, is even more so. When I started studying giant otters in the Madre de Dios province a few years ago, I was advised to stick to the …

Arnaud Desbiez and his team are working in the Pantanal region, Brazil, to protect giant anteaters from habitat degradation and fragmentation as part of the Anteaters & Highways project. Giant anteaters are classified as vulnerable to extinction. Our colleague, Arnaud, wrote to us recently to describe how the recent fires in the Amazon have affected …

Briddlesford, an ancient woodland Every January, we invite a loyal group of enthusiastic volunteers to join us in Briddlesford, our nature reserve on the Isle of Wight, to help us maintain and manage the woodland for wildlife. Briddlesford is both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area for Conservation. The presence of …

Amy Dickman, project leader of the Ruaha Carnivore Project in Tanzania, recently wrote to us about the success of the community camera trap programme. We are seeing real results now thanks to an enormous amount of hard work from Amy and her team on the ground working with the local communities, which brings a lot …