Stag Beetles Need You!

The UK is one of 14 European countries working together to save stag beetles. Many of you already tell the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) when you spot a stag beetle via the Great Stag Hunt survey, but this year can you go the extra mile (well 0.5km) and count stag beetles along a 500m walk on warm evenings, six times during June and July.

Sadly, the incredible stag beetle is threatened across Europe. To protect the future of stag beetles, PTES need to know more about not only where they are surviving, but also how many there are, year on year. That’s where you come in – as citizen scientists, they need your help!

You can help by taking part in the Stag Beetle Count. This annual survey is a Europe-wide study that will allow PTES to see long-term trends and take action where and when it is needed. Anyone who lives in an area where stag beetles are found can take part from 1st June 2022 and the survey will run until the end of July.

How to take part

The best way to take part is to go directly to the European Stag Beetle Monitoring pages to register your interest and take part, but you can also request the forms from PTES (email laura.bower@ptes.org) as a pdf and then submit the results to PTESvia post or email.

Most importantly, you will need do the count 6 times throughout the 2-month period. It only takes half an hour and is only carried out in warm, dry weather – what could be better? You can either count stag beetles along a 500m walk, or from a fixed point in your garden.

In order for PTES to detect long-term trends, observations should be done over a few years, rather than just once.

If you would rather record a one-off sighting of a stag beetle, click here.