If you enjoyed Harriet Allen’s talk on “Restoring habitat for the Iberian lynx“, or if you missed it and would like some information about Iberian lynx, you might find the following article informative.

“Conservation actions see Iberian lynx claw back from brink of extinction“

I found it while browsing online and it is quite recent (March 2021) but Harriet thinks it’s well worth adding to our website for anyone who wants to read more. The article says that in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) the wild population today is around 1,000 animals, compared with just 94 in 2002. Harriet says that she is hopeful that the project to ‘re-wild’ the Iberian lynx will continue to be a success, which is very encouraging.

The Museum of Zoology is looking for Visitor Engagement Volunteers, who are based in the galleries when they are open.

Visitor Engagement Volunteers play a valuable role in maintaining museum security during opening hours by supervising visitors in the galleries, and supporting the front of house staff. They

• Provide a warm welcome to visitors
• Interact with visitors in a helpful manner
• Act as a guide to the Museum
• Help with museum special events
• Maintain security in gallery spaces and follow health and safety procedures
• Participate in light cleaning tasks in the galleries
• Support other volunteers

For more information and to apply visit https://ucm.volunteermakers.org/get-involved/museum-of-zoology/visitor-engagement-volunteer-museum-of-zoology/19/

The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire are running a trail to monitor the effectiveness of using Creeping thistle rust fungus Puccinia punctiformis to manage the spread of Creeping thistle Cirsium arvense on their nature reserve.

They would very much appreciate it if when you are out and about on a walk or talk you could have a quick look at the local creeping thistle and see if you can spot the Rust fungus in question.

If you do find it, please contact trumpingtonmeadows@wildlifebcn.org with good quality co-ordinates for the plants.

Details are in the attached document which will open in a new window.

‘CambsMammalSpot’ is a major new project from Cambridgeshire Mammal Group to record the wild mammals in Cambridgeshire. This is part of an overarching exercise being undertaken jointly with the Wildlife Trust. It aims to collect data on mammal signs and sightings to create a visual understanding of the population and diversity of the mammal species in the county, and particularly to determine their IUCN’s Red List status. It will increase knowledge of what species of wild mammals are where in Cambridgeshire and how many we have.

Cambridgeshire Mammal Group notes that we cannot hope to conserve and enhance the environment for our wild mammals unless we know what we’ve got, where they are, and how many we’ve got.

Two apps — MammalMapper (https://www.mammal.org.uk/volunteering/mammal-mapper/) and iRecord (https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/) will be used to receive records of wild mammals (alive and dead, native and non-native) however obtained – whether from sightings or signs or trail cams.  Anyone can join in — both apps have training built-in — expertise in tracks and signs is not necessary!  All the records will be shared, including with the Mammal Society and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Records Centre.

Links to further information are on the Cambridgeshire Mammal Group website: http://www.cambsmammalgroup.org.uk/