• Raise awareness of the plight of the County’s mammals
• Promote recording and study of mammals in Kent
• Help to conserve mammals
• Provide a forum for those interested in wild mammals.

Membership of the Group offers an enjoyable approach to conservation and recording which appeals to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Yes, there are academics and professional ecologists, but there are also many members who come from all walks of life and all ages, and simply have a soft spot for mammals, and enjoy the keen observation and detective work that can be linked to a walk in the country. This includes young people who are keen to find out more about local mammals and their place in the wider fauna and flora of the County. So, if you are interested come along to one of our events and be assured of a warm and enthusiastic welcome.

If you have a fascination for a specific species, or a particular area of the County, that is even better. The Group is always looking to expand its range of expertise and knowledge of habitats. But that doesn’t mean you have to be an expert. Part of the fun of belonging to the Group is to learn as you go. This can happen informally or by attending the training courses that the Group provides.

Kent Mammal Group is always looking to work in partnership with other organisations – not just those with similar aims, but also others as diverse as the Church of England and the Ministry of Defence. Support for projects has been received from the BBC Wildlife Fund and Awards for All. The Group associates closely with the professionals at Wildwood Trust who are based in Kent but are promoting conservation measures for all British mammal species.

Whether it is the small creatures that inhabit the hedge at the bottom of your garden – or the big marine mammals that live off our coast – they all need support as our local environment is increasingly threatened. You can help provide that support by joining Kent Mammal Group.

Pamela Worrall

Chairman

Kent Mammal Group  2012

Everyone at The Mammal Society is very sad to relay the news that Derek Yalden passed away last night.

Derek was President of The Mammal Society since 1997, having been a member since 1961, and an Honorary Reader in Zoology at the University of Manchester. Many will have known and worked with Derek over the years, including in the production of the 4th edition of our Mammals of the British Isles Handbook, among with many other things.

We will inform people of the funeral arrangements when we have more information and a full obituary will appear in the Spring 2013 issue of Mammal News.

We are respecting the privacy of the family in these difficult times, so if anyone would like to leave a message of condolence to be later passed on, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

From all at The Mammal Society.

Eric Philp, Keeper of Natural History at Maidstone Museum, 1958-1993, former President and Honorary member of the Kent Field Club died on 8th January 2013 aged 82. He will be greatly missed by all. He was a major driving force behind founding the Kent Field Club (the Natural History Society of Kent) in 1955, in conjunction with Tony Tynan, former Keeper of Natural History at the Museum and Mr George Morgan.

To read his full obituary please visit the website of the Kent Field Club.

You can now send us your mammal sightings online.

This facility will make it much simpler and quicker to send us your sightings and help ensure we obtain as many records as possible.

You can access this function from the 'get involved' button. Simply fill in the form and your record will be added to the accumulated knowledge on mammals in Kent. There is very little typing to do, most of it is completed using drop down menus and there is an interactive map of Kent to make sure the record is located as accurately as possible.

We hope you find this a useful function of your website and you become an avid and regular user.

Happy recording,

Webmaster

Great concern has been expressed for the future of the hazel dormouse as its numbers across the country have declined by at least a half in the past 100 years. Dormice are a 'flagship species'. Where they occur the habitat is usually very suitable for a wide range of other species. They are also important as 'bioindicators' as they are particularly sensitive to habitat and population fragmentation, so their presence is an indication of habitat integrity and sustainable populations of other sensitive species.

In 2009 it was decided to work more concertedly towards the publication of a new Mammal Atlas for Kent, joining forces with Kent Bat Group, East Kent Badger Group, and the Records Centre. The Group is also working with the Kent God's Acre Project to further wildlife recording and conservation in churchyards and burial grounds across the County. The immediate priority for the atlas is to ensure that there are sufficient records for the fifty plus terrestrial and marine species so that the atlas is seen to be clearly representative of the status of mammals in Kent in the first decade of the 21st century.