The DMG was initiated in 2012 to absorb the work of the Dorset Badger Group and to take forward the work of the Dorset Otter Group. Embracing ALL Dorset mammals, it is steadily expanding its areas of competence and interest as members with other backgrounds join and contribute.
We are affiliated to the Mammal Society and take a lead from them in many aspects of mammal study. However, we have evolved a position with regard to animal ethics which is our own and perhaps unique among mammal study groups: we encourage the admiration of, and respect for, all mammals regardless of their traditional image in the eyes of some. This means that we stand opposed to recreational killing for example. While we do not campaign for animal rights, we think that there is too little regard paid to such rights whenever humans are inconvenienced and we aim to offer advice based on carefully considered ‘positions’ on various thorny issues.
Membership of the DMG is open to anyone who has an interest in the well-being of our fellow mammals and wishes to conserve and protect them. Our aims include the monitoring of populations, investigations into factors affecting their welfare, advice in helping humans live alongside them.
With the completion of the first edition of the Dorset Mammal Atlas (see menu above), the content of the website has changed. What was previously the ‘Species’ group of menu items now covers only those species which have attracted sub-groups of members (badgers, otters, hedgehogs, dormice). All other species are now covered in the Atlas. Those four are also covered in the atlas of course but their individual sections allow treatment in greater depth and the inclusion of DMGs relevant activities.
Dorset Mammal Group 