1. They spend most of their life underground, looking like this! Striking stag beetles start their life as a larva (or grub) and it takes several YEARS- sometimes up to seven- for them to grow and develop into the adult beetles. During this time, they live underground. You might come across larvae whilst digging in …

Stag Weekend: You’re invited to Britain’s only Stag Weekend- celebrate and save threatened stag beetles Wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is calling for people volunteers across the UK to take part in their ‘Stag Weekend’ – a new national effort to help save – and celebrate – threatened stag beetles this summer. …

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, sent us this recent wonderful and rarely seen footage. We’ve heard of many animal species …

Since spring 2016, 184 red squirrels have been released into the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Becky Priestley and Alan McDonnell, from Trees for Life, have been spearheading a mission to return reds to the north and establish a stronghold for them. Further south, and in England and Wales, our native red squirrels are not …

Hedgehogs After DarkThis summer, discover and record the hidden lives of hedgehogs Hedgehog Street, a nationwide campaign set up by wildlife charities the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), to halt the ongoing decline in native hedgehogs, has today [Monday 11th May] launched ‘Hedgehogs After Dark’. This exciting new …

Creating a future for Siamese crocodiles In 2000, Siamese crocodiles, thought to be extinct, were rediscovered in the wild in Cambodia by a team from Fauna & Flora International (FFI). Found in the Cardamom Mountains, one of the last intact rainforests of Southeast Asia, there are estimated to be just 250 adults in the wild. …

Surveying the elusive mountain hares Having completed all his field work for his PhD researching a small population of mountain hares in the Peak District, we caught up with Carlos Bedson of Manchester Metropolitan University to find out how his work is progressing. Carlos has now gathered sightings of mountain hares over several years. This …

Their value to wildlife As a conservation charity, our primary interest in hedgerows lies in their remarkable capacity for nurturing wildlife. To bats, birds, bees, butterflies, hedgehogs, dormice and thousands of other species alike, hedgerows play a crucial role. They provide home, food, shelter and safe passage across the countryside. Their enormous value to wildlife, …

Hibernation strategy There are three main strategies that animals use to help them get through the winter months. They migrate and move away from harsh weather; they adapt by growing thicker fur and storing food, or they hibernate. Hibernation is often referred to as a ‘sleep’ but it’s a very special type of sleep. The …

Press release: Looking for wildlife during lockdown: Wildlife charity calls for volunteers to record mammal sightings in their gardens, aiding national conservation efforts Although much of life has been placed on hold during the current lockdown, those who are now based at home can do something positive to help Britain’s wildlife, without having to leave …

We’ve been funding Mohammad Farhadinia and his team in Iran since 2013. Their work has been a pioneering effort to understand conservation needs of Persian leopards, to apply novel and practical solutions to resolve the conservation problems and to raise the awareness for leopard conservation in Iran, and abroad. Face to face In mid-December 2019, …

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 …