Mammal Mapper is a FREE app that has been designed to enable you to record signs and sightings of mammals in the UK. Mammals can be recorded along a route whilst you’re walking/running/cycling or even a passenger in a car, or as one off sightings, for example a hedgehog in your garden.

Why do I need this in my life?

You can enjoy building a library of the mammals you have spotted whilst contributing towards scientific research and mammal conservation. The Mammal Mapper app is very easy to use, and includes detailed guides to help you identify the mammal and/or field signs, such as footprints and droppings, that you have seen. Afterwards, you can look back and remember what interesting wildlife you encountered and where!

Mammal Mapping can be great as a family activity or something to think about when you’re walking the dog, even if you walk the same route every day. Some days you might find signs of mammal activity and some you won’t, and the same route will be different in terms of food sources and habitat availability at different times of year. This means that you can turn everyday activities into dedicated surveys akin to ecological surveyors.

As well as recording what mammals you’ve seen, if you’re recording a journey with the app then it will also record where you’ve been and how far you have travelled. “As an avid hill walker, I love how I can record my walks. As well as understanding what mammals I have seen, I like to know how far and for how long I walked. Seeing a detailed map of my past excursions is great!” – Frazer Coomber, Science Officer at the Mammal Society.

The benefit to us

Once you have submitted your records they will be verified and centrally collated. This will help us to build up a picture of where there are mammals and where there aren’t. So, even if you don’t see any mammals we’d still like to know!

Why this is important

Most wild mammals, including rabbits and iconic species like hedgehogs and mountain hares, are very poorly monitored. This makes it difficult to know which regions or habitats are most important for them, or to detect changes in their ranges and population sizes. As such, all of the records that you submit through the app are very important in helping us to understand the distribution, abundance and conservation status of British mammals.

However, the main advantage of Mammal Mapper is the ability to record where you are looking for animals, or “effort”. This is incredibly important as it provides information about where people are recording and more importantly, where animals are absent. In the past, it has been difficult to understand if gaps in records are caused by a true absence in animals at those locations, or if it is simply an artefact one of nobody recording in those areas. In addition, the inclusion of “effort” provides the ability for researchers to calculate the density of animals. These important biological data are necessary to estimate the total population of a species and understand its conservation status.

As outlined above the inclusion of effort can greatly increase our understanding of British mammals, but all records are important so even if you are not recording a route please report any sightings, even if they are one offs!

How do I get hold of the Mammal Mapper?

If you’re using your phone to view this page, simply click on one of the above links to the App Store or Google Play and follow the instructions. Otherwise, from your device, open up the App Store or Google Play and search for Mammal Mapper.

How do I use it?

From the home screen, you can either “Start Survey” to record mammals along a route or “Report a Sighting” to record one-off sightings. Routes must be recorded in real-time, so as you are walking/cycling etc., whereas one-off sightings can also be recorded after the event by changing the location, date and time when entering the sighting.

When conducting a survey, the app will track your journey so all you have to do is keep an eye out for mammals and the signs that they leave behind. Once the app is running, you can even just leave your phone in your pocket. If you do see a mammal or sign, simply add a sighting using the ‘Add Sighting’ button, and the app will guide you through the recording process one step at a time. The final part is to save and then submit the record to us. If you can’t submit the record whilst you’re out, simply save it and submit it later when you have WiFi.

If you are not recording a route but see a mammal, say in your garden or running across the road, you can record it with the “Report a Sighting” option. If you didn’t have your phone on you at the time or were driving then don’t worry as the app allows past sightings to be entered!

More detailed information on how to use the app can be found on the app itself under ‘More’ and then ‘Tour Guide’.

FAQs

How do I download Mammal Mapper?

If you’re using your phone to view this page, simply click on one of the above links to the App Store or Google Play and follow the instructions. Otherwise, from your device, open up the App Store or Google Play and search for Mammal Mapper.

How do I use it?

When opening the app you will see the Home Screen (see image):

You have the option to either:

“Start Survey” if you are going on a journey where you can safely use your phone and wish to record the mammals you see along the route.

OR

“Report a Sighting” if you wish to record a one-off sighting of a live or dead mammal, or a mammal sign (such as droppings, den, feeding remains, hair or a print).

A few things to note:

For the app to work, you will have to give the app permission to use your location. If you are unable to submit your route or individual record whilst out and about, you can save it and submit it later on. In all cases, you have the option to take and submit a photo of the sighting, which can also be saved to your device’s camera roll. To activate or deactivate the saving of photos from the app, go to ‘More’, ‘Settings’ and check/uncheck the ‘Save Photos to Gallery’ option.