History of The Mammal Society

The history of The Mammal Society was being compiled over the years by Ian Linn until his recent death. Ian was a founding member and Honorary Secretary of The Mammal Society, and organised the Society's first Easter Conference and AGM in 1955. The Mammal Society would like to thank his wife for donating this work for publication.

The idea for a society devoted to studying all British mammals was initially conceived in 1953 by zoologists and good friends Joe Pickvance and Brian Hindle. There was a dire lack of any information on mammals available to the general public, but their energy and determination quickly saw the formation of The Mammal Society of The British Isles (shortened to The Mammal Society in later years).

After gaining the approval of several ecologists and naturalists, including ecologist Charles Elton, and eminent scientists such as Dennis Chitty and Mick Southern, for a mammals' society, an inaugural conference was arranged for the April of 1954, to be held at Birmingham University. This meeting was attended by over 200 people with a lively and informed interest in the idea. With this encouragement, the Mammal Society was officially formed.

A constitution was soon drafted and provisional committee members from varying academic backgrounds were appointed:

Lord J. Cranbrook as the President
Alastair Worden as Chairman
Joe Pickvance as Secretary
Harry Hurrell as Treasurer

The Society's formative year concluded in the next April of 1955 with the first Easter Conference and AGM, organised by Ian Linn and held at Exeter University. Later that year, Leo Matthews invited the Society to hold a second meeting at the Zoological Society of London, later to be called the Autumn Symposium. These meetings quickly became established annual events.

A selection of attendees to the first ever AGM of The Mammal Society of the British Isles, held at Exeter University.

3rd from left stands Joe Pickvance, with Lord Cranbrook 5th from left. Photo by Harry Savory, 3rd April 1955

1955-1957 was a time of consolidation and development. The Society started to run short informative residential courses entitled 'Mammals in Britain', starting in December 1954, with specialists giving talks and field demonstrations. Plans to produce a number of publications followed, including three field guides on small mammals, bats and deer, which were to be made easily accessible to field naturalists.

The Bulletin was circulated bi-annually to members (until 1969), and was regarded as an 'unofficial' summary of current research on mammals; Notes on British Mammals, a collation of scientific papers reprinted from the Journal of Zoology, ran alongside this for members until 1997.

By 1959, the Society responded to the overwhelming interest in mammals by moving from Birmingham University to establish its own office in London. This year also saw the successful completion of the Society's first national Bat-ringing Scheme and National Badger Survey, with county recorders appointed to collect the data and respond to the high level of interest in these species.

1963 saw the publication of the first edition of the major collaborative work entitled 'Handbook of British Mammals'. The Handbook is still in print today, now on its 4th edition, and remains the pre-eminent publication of The Mammal Society, written by Society president Derek Yalden, in collaboration with myriad experts in mammalogy.

Our first National Mammal Distribution Survey was completed by 1965, responding to a desperate shortage of information on populations and distribution. Britain finally had a clearer picture of the condition of its mammals. Applying scientific rigour and expertise to all its work made the Society a trusted source and authority on mammals of the British Isles.

In February 1970, the first issue of the Society's scientific journal Mammal Review was published, to replace the original Bulletin. Today, Mammal Review is an internationally cited journal of mammalogy. In March 1970, the Society's more generic members' Newsletter was first published. It was renamed Mammal News in August 1991 and evolved into a full-colour members' magazine by Spring 1998.

The British Deer Society eventually formed from the Mammal Society, because of the particular conservation interests of some members, and the Bat Conservation Trust and Badgers Trust followed suit more recently.

Looking to the future...

Success has continued for The Mammal Society throughout the past 56 years and it has remained an authority on the study of mammals, their biology and the conservation issues affecting them. The Mammal Society celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2004, and has now developed a forward plan to 2015 to direct the Society's future.

Membership currently stands at around 2000, today including not only academics and research fellows, but ecologists, conservationists and amateur enthusiasts, most of whom are actively involved in the ongoing work of The Mammal Society to further the understanding and conservation of British mammals. We still run national surveys, hold regular training courses run by experts and of course the annual Easter Conference and Autumn Symposium are still a popular tradition.

We are also developing our local group and county recorder networks to encourage mammal conservation across the British Isles.

Recognising the past...

Read tributes to Michael Woods, the great "amateur professional" and passionate mammalogist.

Michael Woods 1948 - 2010

Following a long illness, Michael Woods died in January 2010. Michael contributed an enormous amount to the Society over 27 years, and was Chairman of The Mammal Society between 2003 - 2009.