Public asked to help mammal survey

THE MOST comprehensive survey to date of Ireland’s mammal population is to be carried out over the next four years.

The National Biodiversity Data Centre hopes that a new atlas of Irish mammals can be drawn up to give a more accurate account of where Ireland’s 64 species are located.

It may also help to discover new species as happened three years ago, when the greater white-toothed shrew was found in parts of Tipperary and Limerick.

There are at present 27 species of land mammal, 10 bat species, three marine mammals and probably 24 cetaceans (whale and dolphins).

The public have been invited to submit online any sighting of mammals so that they can contribute to building up a comprehensive picture of where mammal species occur in Ireland.

National Biodiversity Data Centre director Dr Liam Lysaght said there was still much to be known about indigenous species, most notably the Irish stoat and the hedgehog. “This initiative should fill the remaining gaps in our knowledge,” he said.

The initiative has the support of organisations which include the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Bat Conservation Ireland, the Irish Wildlife Federation, biology.ie

The centre is co-ordinating this network and providing an online portal and mapping system where information is collated and presented in up-to-date distribution maps.

The survey will run until the end of 2015, by which time a comprehensive picture of the distribution of all Ireland’s mammals should be produced.