The Dutch Mammal Society donated 50 Longworth live traps to mammal researchers in North Macedonia. A small questionnaire among mammal workers (organisations and individuals) in Eastern Europe in 2016 revealed that obtaining good research material is one of the major bottlenecks for mammal research in Eastern Europe (see table).
The Habitat Foundation started a campaign to collect field material. Earlier, the Dutch Mammal Society donated live traps to researchers in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Bulgaria. Regelink Ecology & Landscape and Cameraval.eu donated bat detectors and wildlife cameras to researchers in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Information about the whereabouts of mammals and about their behaviour and habitat requirements is essential for their conservation. Conducting research on mammals is not easy. The animals are elusive and most of them are only active during the night. With special equipment, it is possible to learn more about their ecology. However, this equipment is pretty expensive and for researchers in low-income countries difficult to acquire. Besides to learn more about the ecology of small mammals, the data collected with this equipment will be used for the second edition of the Atlas of European Mammals.
Do you also want to help the mammal researchers and conservationists in Eastern Europe with a donation (in money or equipment), contact us (info@thehabitatfoundation.org) or click the ‘Donate’-button. The equipment we are looking for is bat detectors, wildlife cameras, handheld GPS, live traps, mist nets, binoculars etc..
