The Mammal Society - The Mammal Society is dedicated to the study and conservation of British mammals. Its home page opens with four main sections summarising its work: The Society's Publications, Fun Zone, Society's Activities and Forthcoming events, each of which carries a substantial list of sub-headings.. There is also an up-dated news desk and "how to contact " feature. 'The Society's Publications' covers a wide range of subjects, particularly good are the facts sheets on British Mammals, from common seal to wild cat. Here are found useful tips on careers etc. but also official bulletins on serious topics such as Bovine tuberculosis in Badgers. In a lighter vein, the Fun Zone is mainly aimed at kids (especially Mammalaction) but all are invited and will find interesting reading. 'The Society's Activities' invites visitors to get involved with the Society and contribute to their projects. There are detailed reports on the latest results, for example on the 'Sarcoptic Mange in Foxes Survey' carried out in conjunction with BBC Wildlife, the National Fox Welfare Society and the Fox Project. If by now you have not realised the full extent of this site, a visit to the gardens and mammals video pages will quickly show that it is in fact a galaxy of excellent sub-sites. Forthcoming events outlines training courses, on an amateur level but also leading to a licence to handle protected species. All the articles are written by experts and are constantly up-dated. Extremely well designed, the site is accompanied throughout by photographs or other illustrations. Where appropriate, especially in the Fun Zone, there are media player sound fonts (e.g. whale songs) and video-clips (skunk in action) where connection is fast and smooth. I found the beige background with discrete logo easy on the eye, the red titles and blue links allowing easy navigation through a truly information-packed site. Definitely worth book-marking. Rating: 10 out of 10. (9 August 2002) CCL
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/
Congo Gorilla Forest - There is a rainforest in New York, encompassing 6.5 square miles. Some 300 animals reside there, including a large group of breeding lowland gorillas. While it is small in relation to say, the Amazonian rainforest, it is still an ideal learning environment. If you don't live near the Bronx Zoo, which houses this exhibit, a virtual tour is available here, an introduction to several of its denizens, and a conservation game (Shockwave required) suitable for one to four players. (12 October 2001) AD
http://www.congogorillaforest.com/
The Fox Forest - This site's photos and recorded vocalizations from tree-climbing, bat-eared, and snow-tossing foxes are a fox enthusiasts' dream. Information about fox mating habits, living quarters and diets are now on par with a good encyclopaedia, and more research is ongoing. Also available are links to other fox-oriented resources, video clips, and reviews of films featuring foxes. If you have ever wondered where the term, to 'skulk around' comes from the definition of a group of foxes as a skulk will put your mind at ease. This is a good place to admire foxes, but you will have to go elsewhere if you are in-depth science. (26 September 2001) SS
http://www.foxforest.com/
The Jane Goodall Institute - No one has done more for the cause of chimpanzees than Jane Goodall, who first began studying them at the Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanganyika in 1960 and whose work continues today. Through over 30 years of observation and living closely with chimps, Goodall discovered much of what we now know about their behaviour, intelligence, communication skills, social organization and what affects us most deeply their close similarities to us (which are so great that some primatologists have proposed including chimpanzees in the same genus as humans). Sadly, our increased knowledge has not improved their odds for survival destruction of habitat, poaching, the live animal trade, and the growth in the bushmeat trade have pushed chimps (and other primates) closer than ever to the brink of extinction in the wild. A section called 'Our Shame' documents the atrocities that have brought them to this point, and makes for difficult reading; but, as evidenced by her 'Reason for Hope' awareness-raising tour this year, Goodall's message is above all that every individual can make a difference and help. For ways you can do this, and for an engrossing account of Goodall's inspirational life and work, this is the place to start. (14 July 2001) DD
http://www.janegoodall.org/index.html
Bears.org - Set up by two individuals who like bears, and are keen for other people to like bears, this site is 'dedicated to the preservation of accurate bear beliefs' an early warning, perhaps, not to expect too much in the way of hard science. But even in its stated aim the site falls short, and once you get beyond the nice illustration on the home page the content is disappointingly thin and patchily put together. There is one item under the topic 'Movies with bear leads', two under 'Essays', one under 'Fiction and Stories about Bears'. 'Myths' contains a description of the Ainu bear ritual, a list of names of respect for bears, and a couple of legends about bear constellations. Overall, a site strong on the warm-and-fuzzy factor but otherwise very limited (and excessively plagued by typos and grammatical errors). There's a section on links also minimal, but from where you can at least move on to better bear (and less bare) sites. (2 April 2001) DD
http://www.bears.org/
Cyber Tiger - This is a small but sweet offering from National Geographic Magazine. Aimed, presumably, at children, the site allows you to prepare a tiger enclosure for your cyber zoo in readiness to receive a shipment of a Siberian tiger. You learn how to make him comfortable, what to feed him, how to make him safe, etc. Children will enjoy the interactivity, and should pick up some basic information about tigers along the way. Requires a Java-enabled browser. (19 February 2001) KN
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tigers/main...
Cats: Plans for Perfection - National Geographic's look at the design elements that went into the cat. Possibly more than you ever want to know about the felids, organized under the headings of skeleton, muscles, coat, senses, and behavior, with multiple subheadings. Blueprint-style drawings are exceptional, some (retractable claw, ears) are animated. In addition, there is a gallery featuring work by a paleontological artist who specializes in sabertooth tigers. The device of notes taped to the pages of interdepartmental memos is probably more successful with younger viewers. No light shed on why those claws don't stay retracted once they encounter a human lap. Nothing about the purr either, but we quibble. (9 February 2001) AD
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97...
World Lynx Home Page - This site aims to raise awareness of the lynx and its endangered status. Many countries permit hunting of a certain number of lynx per year, and this site looks at some of the arguments behind this idea. There has been a programme of reintroduction of the lynx in to some countries, but as the site points out, this has been unpopular with farmers and hunters, who see the lynx as a threat, either to their livestock or to their quarry. Many of the articles are available in different languages, with the entire site available in both Norwegian and Swedish (two countries where culling has been permitted), as well as in English. The site contains a wealth of information about the lynx and its status as an endangered species. The information is divided into different sections, including news, habitat, cat science and politics, with the latter containing discussions in the Norwegian parliament about lynx culling, and the listing of the animal as an endangered species in the US. Scientific papers on lynx are presented in Lynx Resources, although access to this section requires a password, which is available free via e-mail. In all, this site is a worthy tribute to a beautiful creature. (5 January 2001)
http://lynx.uio.no/jon/lynx/lynxhome.htm
Animal Info - Rare, Threatened and Endangered Mammals - Rare, endangered, and threatened animals indexed under either scientific or common names. The detailed treatment of each animal includes a profile, status and trends, biology and ecology, references and some chilling tidbits (the Iberian lynx has no fear of man). For ease of access, the graphics at this site are minimal, which only serves to underline the sobering nature of its content. You may be surprised at the number of animals on these lists. (22 December 2000) AD
http://www.animalinfo.org/
