News

Rabbits: abundant, small to medium-sized herbivores – or as one account puts it, a little ungenerously, ‘food-chain fodder’. But there’s more to rabbits than food for foxes and stoats and buzzards. These unassuming grazers are landscape engineers, a talent that wasn’t appreciated until we almost lost them. Arriving in Britain Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), like their …

We had a fantastic response to our 2020 Great Stag Hunt. More than double the usual number of records were submitted. There have been numerous new articles reporting how the UK lockdown increased our engagement with the environment. Of course, some of our surveys were impossible for people to take part in during this period …

PTES intern, Danai Kontou, has been busy this year, investigating a critical but little-known species that once dominated our coastal waters. With PTES funding, and under the supervision of Chris Yesson at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Danai has spent the better part of a year wading through chilly British coastal …

We spoke to Great.com on the podcast series Great.com Talks With…The series explains causes like ours to listeners, in a way that’s easy to understand. The interview took place with our very own Ian White, PTES Dormouse Officer. He explains why dormice are particularly valuable in all kinds of conservation work. Dormice are an indicator …

PTES is calling on supporters to urge their MPs to support an early day motion to debate a ban on global wildlife trade in parliament. The global wildlife trade can be cruel and is a hotbed for emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19. The Coalition to Ban Wildlife Trade campaign, led by World Animal Protection and …

Moles are known for one thing: molehills. But dig a little deeper and the extraordinary life of moles becomes apparent. Born to dig The European mole (Talpa europaea) is an insectivore, akin to hedgehogs and shrews, and lives an almost entirely subterranean existence. They are superbly adapted to a digging lifestyle, with broad, shovel-like forelimbs …

Searching for noble chafer beetles Last summer PTES funded a new national noble chafer beetle survey. Hundreds of volunteers were sent a survey pack and asked to put up a (harmless!) trap and fit it with a lure. Thank you to everyone who has helped this year. We wanted to expand our knowledge of this beautiful beetle’s …

An action plan for brown-headed spider monkeys Alma Hernandez and her team are working hard in Colombia to gather enough information to create the first National Action Plan for brown-headed spider monkeys. They are only found in a narrow range in northern Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, alongside the seven species of spider monkey living in …

Short story from the understory My name is Stephen Carroll and I’m a dormouse-aholic. 16 years ago I encountered dormice at a woodland near Exeter, and I’ve been monitoring the nestbox scheme there ever since. The timing coincided with my mature awakening as a wildlife enthusiast. Also, I live in Devon, a dormousey hotspot, so …

Hi, my name is Holly and I have been volunteering with the Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group as part of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) since February 2019. I am currently studying at University and want to go into conservation when I graduate. For that reason, I began volunteering with …

My job in a nutshell I have often wondered, if I was ever stopped by the police and asked my occupation, and I replied, ‘I’m a dormouse officer’, whether they would see the funny side. I hope they would, because this job is fun, exciting, interesting, challenging, stressful, and very rewarding. But what do I …

Hi, I’m Suzanne! I moved to Kent from Leeds 22 years ago and was keen to get involved with the local wildlife groups as a way of connecting with the county. I contacted Kent Mammal Group to ask if there was any way I could help out and they said I might want to train …