UK mammal poll
Survey finds fewer than 300 Scottish wildcats remain in Highlands
By Vicky Burns, Scottish Wildcat Action Vicky previously blogged about Securing the future of Scottish Wildcats, here she updates us on SWA’s monitoring and protection work. Scottish wildcats are our only remaining native cat species, and they perform an important function in a healthy ecosystem. They are also part of our cultural heritage in Scotland, with some clan … Continue reading
The fantastic red fox
By Martin Hemmington, National Fox Welfare Society. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. A master of adaptability, survivor against the odds, and an animal that divides opinion across the UK: the red fox has now taken over from the gray wolf as being the most … Continue reading
Beaver ballot: why we should give a dam
By Dr Alan Law, freshwater science researcher, University of Stirling. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) has recently been reintroduced on a trial basis to England and Scotland. Yet its future remains on a knife edge. Their new presence has … Continue reading
Otter magic
By Pete Cooper, postgraduate student at The University of Exeter. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Why are otters so endearing? This may seem obvious, what with their ‘cute’ charismatic appeal, prevalence in our culture from Wind in the Willows to Tarka and resemblance to … Continue reading
The water vole: can we save ‘Ratty’?
By Merryl Gelling, post-doc researcher at WildCRU and Mammal Society Council member. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. There can be no denying that the water vole, although physically fairly small, has the biggest ‘cute’ factor of all our UK mammals. At first glance they … Continue reading
Decorating the dolphin: why a marine mammal deserves the crown
Opinion piece by Billy Mills – Biology Week intern at the Royal Society of Biology. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. While helping create the UK Mammal Poll, I noticed that many people seem to be unaware of the diversity of mammals that live in … Continue reading
Securing the future of Scottish Wildcats
By Vicky Burns, Scottish Wildcat Action Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Scottish wildcats are now critically endangered. Once a common sight throughout Britain, hunting, habitat loss and, more recently, introgressive hybridisation means there are now less than 300 left in the wild. The biggest … Continue reading
Favourite UK Mammal – the ones that got away
Opinion piece by Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society, and associate professor in mammalian biology at the University of Exeter. The poll for the Favourite UK Mammal has a shortlist of just 10 species. Yet there are about 64 land mammals (including bats) in the UK, and another 37 marine species found in our … Continue reading
Return of the native: the pine marten
By Jenny MacPherson, pine marten project manager, The Vincent Wildlife Trust. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for yourFavourite UK Mammal. My first encounter with a pine marten in the wild was back when I was a first year zoology undergraduate. I was poised upwind of a badger sett with … Continue reading
Soprano pipistrelle: A love song in the key of 55kHz
By David Urry MRSB, science communicator at The Natural History Museum. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The soprano pipistrelle, one of three pipistrelle species in the UK, is named due to the frequency of its echolocation: slightly higher than the closely related common pipistrelle. … Continue reading