Dormice

Jen Bousfield has been monitoring dormice in five woodlands in Devon since 2010. Earlier this year she had a close encounter with a dormouse that she wasn’t expecting: One evening at the beginning of April I received a telephone call. It was a friend from our Orchard Group who lives about half a mile away, …

PTES staff, volunteers, and conservation partners unite to restore a cherished native species in Leicestershire In March 2025, excitement rippled through the Bradgate Park Trust volunteer team. A new species reintroduction was on the horizon – but which one? Red squirrels? Pine martens? In April, the mystery was unveiled: hazel dormice were to make a …

People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and NatureSpace are collaborating to develop survey methodology and protocol to produce a more robust map of dormouse presence and distribution within a county. The project is being piloted this year in Sussex, which although well within the dormouse range does not appear to have the widespread populations of …

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) …

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 …

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 …

Bridging the knowledge gap Hazel dormice have long been the focus of conservation efforts in Britain. In the 1990s Pat Morris and Paul Bright studied them, laying the foundation for the understanding of their ecology and behaviour. Over the years, the scope of research has expanded, not just through academic studies, but also through the …

Lily is a member of the Nottingham Wildlife Trust Keeping it Wild youth team. Having done a diploma at Brackenhurst, Lily has been accepted at Bangor University to study ecology and conservation. In May, 2024, The Nottingham Dormouse Group invited Lily on one of their sessions and this was her experience. Nestled away in the …

The National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) primarily focuses on tracking the population of hazel dormice and gathering essential biometric data on this endangered species to assess the health of Britain’s dormouse population. However, dormouse nest boxes are often utilised by other wildlife. Over the past 20 years, we’ve regularly asked dormouse monitors to record any …

Ellie Scopes recently completed her PhD at the University of Exeter. She investigated how often and when hazel dormice are found in hedgerows and scrubby habitats in the South West. Her results are a useful insight into how dormice use these habitats and how we might improve our surveying and management of these critical areas. …

Setting up the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme The National Dormouse Monitoring programme (NDMP) was set up in 1990. It started with only 13 sites but under the guidance and enthusiasm of Pat Morris and Paul Bright it quickly grew and, within two years, there were 28 sites. In September 1992 the first newsletter, called The Dormouse …