Public asked to keep an eye on Britain's animal kingdom
July 2012. In the 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, mammal populations in Britain have undergone many changes. While some, such as rabbits and foxes have grown in numbers over the decades, other iconic native species such as the red squirrel and hedgehogs have suffered a dramatic decline. Mammals on Roads, an annual survey run by the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), allows motorists, especially families travelling together by car, to record sightings of any mammals, dead or alive, that they spot from their vehicle, contributing towards the charity's efforts to monitor the changing state of Britain's mammals.
Help with the survey
Wildlife enthusiasts can complete the survey via a printed pack or by downloading the Trust's free Mammals on Roads app onto their iPhone. The app makes it easier to take part in the survey on the move: the location of sightings and the routes of participants' journeys are recorded using the inbuilt GPS of iPhones. The information captured is then sent to the Mammals on Roads database and analyzed by wildlife experts at PTES. Journeys that are repeated along the same route year on year especially provide important scientific data on changing populations.
1 million mammals killed on UK roads every year
PTES Surveys Officer David Wembridge says: "It is a sad fact that around one million mammals are killed on UK roads each year. However, roadkill provides wildlife experts with clues about the state of wild animal populations, as the proportion of dead animals relates to the number of those alive in the wild. Since the launch of Mammals on Roads in 2001, volunteers have surveyed over three-quarters of a million kilometres of road along the length and breadth of Britain. We hope that with the availability of the iPhone app in addition to the paper-based survey, even more people will take part and help us by surveying the country's immense road network for signs of wildlife. In the last sixty years, our mammal populations have undergone huge changes, underlying the need for monitoring to in conservation."
PTES Surveys Officer David Wembridge says: "It is a sad fact that around one million mammals are killed on UK roads each year. However, roadkill provides wildlife experts with clues about the state of wild animal populations, as the proportion of dead animals relates to the number of those alive in the wild. Since the launch of Mammals on Roads in 2001, volunteers have surveyed over three-quarters of a million kilometres of road along the length and breadth of Britain. We hope that with the availability of the iPhone app in addition to the paper-based survey, even more people will take part and help us by surveying the country's immense road network for signs of wildlife. In the last sixty years, our mammal populations have undergone huge changes, underlying the need for monitoring to in conservation."
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