The Mammal Society

The Mammal Society is a British natural history conservation charity (Charity number 278918), which acts as a professional networking, social and conservation organisation, that brings people together for the research and conservation of mammals of the British Isles.

The Mammal Society was formed in 1954, after an inaugural meeting was held at Birmingham University that year to discuss the need for such a Society. One year later in April 1955, the first ever Spring Conference, which still runs today, was held at Exeter University. In 2004, The Mammal Society celebrated its 50th year, and in 2013, it will celebrate the 60th anniversary.

The Mammal Society has a membership of around 2000 mammalogists, ecologists, conservationists, both experts and enthusiasts, all working to better understand mammals and the conservation challenges they face. The Society runs national surveys for mammals, for example Mini Mammal Monitoring. You can find more information at www.mammal.org.uk/surveys.

The Mammal Society is also working to address the problem that mammals in the British Isles are severely under-recorded, resulting in a lack of mammal conservation progress. The Mammal Society is determined to overcome this by creating a National Mammal Atlas, the first in over 20 years, to provide vital information on mammal distribution and abundance so that informed conservation decisions can be made for species in need. In order to achieve this they are collating national mammal data and records to gather up to date information.

The Mammal Society offers a wide range of expert-led training courses for consultants, conservationists and enthusiasts alike, covering ecology, technical skills and surveying. A full list of these courses can be found here.

The Society's president was Dr. Derek Yalden, from 1997 until his death in February 2013. The current Chairman is Dr Johnny Birks.

Publications

The Mammal Society published a number of informative books for conservationists, enthusiasts and consultants alike, as well as a scientific journal, Mammal Review.

It also publishes a number of books. There are currently 10 species guides in the species monograph series in print. They are 24-28 page monographs which detail a species' biology, ecology and conservation. The species included are:

• The Hedgehog
• Brown Hare
• The Badger
• Squirrels
• Stoats and Weasels
• The Dormouse
• The Pine Marten
• otter The Otter
• The Water Shrew Handbook
• Bats

In June 2012, The Mammal Society published UK BAP Mammals: Interim Guidelines for Survey Methodologies, Impact Assessment & Mitigation for species for which there was previously no available guidance.

http://mammal.org.uk/bap_mammals_guidelines

The definitive publication of The Mammal Society is the 4th edition of Mammals of The British Isles Handbook. The Handbook is well established as the classic reference source detailing the biology, ecology and conservation of every mammal occurring in Britain and Ireland. The 3rd edition, dating to 1991, had long been out of press, until over 100 of the leading mammalogists, mostly members of The Mammal Society, contributed to complete this comprehensive 800-page 4th revision, published in 2008. It presents an authoritative summary of our current knowledge of mammal ecology, biology and conservation issues, with detailed accounts for every species of mammal found in or around the British Isles.

http://mammal.org.uk/handbook

References

External links

www.mammal.org.uk