Fiona Mathews is professor of environmental biology at the University of Sussex. She is the founding chair of Mammal Conservation Europe and author of the UK government's official census of British mammals. She advises the UK government and its devolved authorities on a variety of conservation issues.

Tim Kendall is professor of English literature at the University of Exeter. He is the author of works of poetry and literary criticism, and he edited Britain's Mammals 2018. He lives in the wilds of East Devon with Fiona, and they share their house with two teenage daughters, two rabbits, a Labrador and a rehabilitating common pipistrelle bat.