living with mammals Survey

Mammals Trust UK 15 Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park R o a d London, SW8 4BG Tel: 020 7498 5262 Fax: 020 7498 4459 E-mail: [email protected] www.mtuk.org Living with

Figure 4 The percentage of Mammals sites in different regions of the UK, which recorded muntjac deer A partnership (pink) and hedgehog (blue). There are about sixty terrestrial wild mammal Survey Update 2006 , particularly in the east, and are present species in the UK. Many are predators, near in the south and in . North of the Humber, the top of food chains, and their presence is an their distribution is patchy but reaches close to important indicator of the health of the environment. Living with Mammals Survey DECEMBER 2006 the Scottish border. The overall proportion of Surveying all of them is beyond the resources of sites recording muntjac has increased since the any single organisation. The efforts of many of beginning of Living with Mammals and this ties in the academic groups, government agencies and with other surveys, which indicate an increasing NGOs involved are linked through the Tracking population. Mammals Partnership (TMP), funded by the Joint pring arrived a little late this year. The Nature Conservation Committee. At the heart of average temperature for the first four Hedgehogs appear more prevalent in the north the Partnership are many thousands of volunteers, months of the year was the lowest that and eastern regions of England and scarcest in and it is their enthusiasm and experience on S it has been since 2001, and the appearance of London (figure 4). In comparison, this difference which the TMP relies. The TMP website (www. many insect and plant species, such as the red- may be because London is a particularly urbanised trackingmammals.org) is an excellent overview of tailed bumblebee, peacock butterfly and dog’s region. Though hedgehogs can do well in urban mammal monitoring in the UK. tooth violet, was later than in recent years. But gardens, if these are isolated from each other, despite the cold winds that persisted into April, with few 'green corridors' linking different sites, The Bat Conservation Trust runs a number of many hundreds of volunteers joined in Living such gardens may be an inaccessible habitat for surveys as part of the National Bat Monitoring with Mammals to survey local green spaces. Our hedgehogs. A fuller analysis of the survey's data Programme, and is collaborating with MTUK on a thanks go to everyone who took part, for all their will hopefully shed light on which features of sites Bats and Roadside Mammals project. Information efforts and enthusiasm. Thank you! encourage these visitors. about the surveys can be found at: www.bats.org.uk. Survey coverage Find out more about UK mammals Mammals UK: An Introduction to the Nation's Wild Mammals Over the course of the survey, Living with by Clare Poland Bowen (84pp), £5.00 Mammals amassed weekly records from over A concise guide to the natural history, status and distribution of over 60 British species, seven hundred sites across the UK (figure 1), illustrated with full-colour photographs. stretching from the Orkney Islands to and from County Antrim to . The proportion of records from the different countries was similar to that for those collected in the BBC Springwatch FSC Field Guides, laminated, fold-out guides, £3.25 each Survey, with the majority of sites (and the most Key to British land mammals per capita) coming from England. British mammal tracks and signs Nearly four-fifths of sites (544) were gardens Produced by the Field Studies Council and The Mammal (figure 2), while about one in twenty (34 sites) Society were common land or pasture, and one in twenty- To order, please call 020 7498 5262 five (26) were recreational spaces (parks, playing Figure 1 The distribution of survey sites in 2006. The or visit our online shop at www.mtuk.org fields or golf courses). Colin Mackenzie 'Government Office Regions' for England are outlined.

4 Living with Mammals | December 2006 Mammals Trust UK is a restricted fund of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species Registered Charity No. 274206 Living with Mammals | December 2006 1 living with mammals Survey living with mammals Survey

A common pipistrelle. Hugh Clark, courtesy of the Bat Conservation Trust Figure 2 Thirteen categories of sites were surveyed in 2006. Species recorded Gardens made up 79 % of sites. Private gardens collectively cover about Twenty-six species were identified in the survey, 270,000 hectares (667,000 acres) in as well as groups of species such as bats Britain and make up the largest or voles. Those of conservation concern are urban green space. Figure 3 The percentage of sites at which particular species were recorded in the four years of the survey to date. shown below (table 1). These are species that conservationists believe should be monitored where possible, and include hedgehog, otter and environment to biodiversity, and the need to ally chosen 1km squares across the UK. In 2005, 212 Variation in the proportion of 'positive' sites (those three deer species, our native red and roe, and conservation and urban development. sites were surveyed and 186 (88 %) were positive at which a particular species was spotted) in fallow. In all, 556 sites (79 %) recorded 'Species for common pipistrelles. Between 1998 and 2005, different regions might reflect either the edge of of Conservation Concern'. The presence of these One such flagship species, not ordinarily the trend has shown an average annual increase a species' range or a difference in the sorts of species around our homes and places of work associated with the built environment, is the of eight percent, which is reflected in the results features that sites commonly have in different blurs the distinction between the built and natural otter. Otters were identified at nine sites this from Living with Mammals. regions. Muntjac deer for example (figure 4) are environment. They highlight the value of the built year, all of them gardens. With the exception of widespread in twelve 'core' counties in central one site, this shy animal was recognised from That the different surveys show similar changes is signs alone. Improvements in water quality and very encouraging, and "cross-referencing" surveys in riverbank habitats have helped the species to Species of Conservation Number of sites in this way adds to their strength in informing spread, prompting hopes that otters may become Concern conservation policy. a more frequent sight even in urban landscapes. Bat species 395 Manchester City Council's environment office One other sighting of a rare species this Hedgehog 277 recently predicted that otters will be living in the year deserves a mention: that of a panther, Shrew species 133 River Mersey in the next five years, following the which was spotted in Buckinghamshire. Eye- Badger 129 return of salmon to the river; and in September, witness accounts of big around the UK are the first wild otter to be found in central London surprisingly frequent. Over 2,000 sightings were Roe deer 65 in more than a hundred years was reported. The reported in the fifteen months from April 2004, Brown hare 49 young male animal was found dead in Wapping and Milton Keynes has a history of sightings. The Weasel 28 and had probably travelled down the River Lee. Society has gathered evidence of Stoat 22 at least 23 releases of big cats into the wild since Red squirrel 17 The proportion of sites recording particular 1976 but whether bigs cats are definitely on the species is shown in figure 3. Each year that prowl in the neighbourhood remains uncertain... Otter 9 the survey runs, so the data it collects become Water vole 9 more valuable, revealing long-term trends in how Regional differences Fallow deer 6 populations are changing. Polecat 5 Conservation efforts are often funded at the level Although still too soon to say a lot about trends, Hazel dormouse 3 of Government Office Regions, administrative an interesting feature of the survey's findings to Red deer 3 areas within the UK countries. The nine regions date is the apparent year-on-year increase in the in England, together with Wales, and Pine marten 1 number of sites that are home to bats. The most Northern Ireland were used to look at differences Seal 1 abundant British bat, and one found in urban in the results across the UK. environments, is the common pipistrelle, and this Table 1 The number of sites recording 'Species of rise mirrors that found in a recent survey by the Conservation Concern'. Those highlighted in pink are Bat Conservation Trust. The survey recorded the priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. presence or absence of pipistrelles in randomly A grey squirrel. Dave Bevan

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