Earlier this month, with the dormouse monitoring season almost over, I excitedly packed my wet weather gear and travelled to northern Germany. I was joining Björn Schulz, Sven Büchner and their families and friends to look for evidence of hazel dormice on the German/Danish border. Finding evidence of dormouse in Germany Germany, like all EU …

You’d suppose, given that Rudolph is traditionally a boy’s name, that Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is male (or a bull, as male reindeer are known) but one thing – in fact, two – suggest otherwise… Girl power Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) are unique among deer species in that females, as well as males, grow antlers. Each …

Free advice available to farmers and land managers on how to maintain this iconic habitat throughout prime hedgerow management season and beyond This autumn and winter, wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is offering free hedgerow management advice to farmers, landowners, and land managers across the UK. Following just six steps will make …

As Halloween approaches and the days shorten, the lights will come on a little earlier. It’s a feature of urban environments we often overlook, but for many species it’s the dark, and not the light, that’s home. Night and day Artificial light at night (ALAN) means fewer dark habitats, and while it makes our own …

Hedgerow management at the individual level is underpinned by the hedgerow management lifecycle (developed based on work by Nigel Adams): recognising the fact that hedges are living and dynamic entities. The next step in the journey of hedge management is to consider the wider landscape context. Developing a hedgerow management plan raises many questions. Which …

Badgers and boars Male badgers are known as boars, and female badgers, as sows and, while wild boar and badgers are very different beasts, it isn’t hard to see a resemblance… Wild boar (Sus scrofa) belong to the group Artiodactyla (hoofed mammals with an even number of toes), along with deer. Badgers (Meles meles), on …

We have a longstanding partnership with Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation (SLCF), led by Bayara Agvaantseren, to protect snow leopards in the Tost Nature Reserve, South Gobi, Mongolia. We’re pleased to share with you some considerable achievements. This partnership is making a real, tangible difference to the future of snow leopards in Mongolia, and we’re committing …

Gaining key insights into how to manage hedgerows for dormice Recently launched, the National Dormouse Footprint Tunnel Survey will use footprint tunnels to detect the presence or absence of the charismatic but rare hazel dormouse in hedgerows. The need for surveying hazel dormice is clear: it is thought that their population has halved in the …

While we can do a lot to encourage wildlife in urban green spaces and improve the green health of our towns and cities, it’s also true that, for some, it can be a jungle out there. Without thinking, we can easily create unintentional hazards around gardens and allotments. Removing these can make these spaces a whole …

Taking part in surveys and making your garden wildlife friendly can make a real difference With extreme heat warnings and wildfires dominating the news in recent weeks, it’s easy to forget that local wildlife – from hedgehogs and hares to bats and badgers – may also be struggling with this summer’s harsh conditions. But, the …

Public asked to help hedgehogs by connecting as many gardens as possible and submitting entries online Two wildlife charities are asking members of the public to link their gardens this summer in a bid to help hedgehogs and find ‘Britain’s Biggest Hedgehog Street’. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species, who …

Wildlife charity asks volunteers to search in woodlands, as well as in gardens and parks From late May into July, wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is calling for people across the UK to record any sightings of endangered stag beetles, as part of the charity’s annual ‘Great Stag Hunt’ (www.stagbeetles.ptes.org). Stag beetles …