This page reports news about red and grey squirrels from across the UK. For stories specific to the Anglesey project, please visit our red squirrel media page.

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News from the UK:

Invading grey squirrels face mass cull in Scotland

THE SCOTSMAN

Published Date: 19 July 2008

By Jenny Haworth

Environment Correspondent

THE battlelines have been drawn and the war is about to start to protect one of Scotland 's most threatened native animals – the red squirrel.

Armed with traps and air rifles, a team of nine squirrel protection officers will set to work in the Borders, supported, they hope, by members of the public.

Their aim will be to kill every grey squirrel in the south of Scotland within two years, to stop the animals spreading further north.

Grey squirrels, introduced from the United States , carry a pox deadly to the smaller native reds.

Next month, a telephone hotline will be set up as part of the Red Squirrels in South Scotland initiative, for the public to call when they spot a grey. Squirrel protection officers will deliver traps to gardens, remove grey squirrels caught and shoot them.

Hundreds of traps will also be set out in forests across southern Scotland .

The scheme has the backing of some of the biggest landowners in the region, including the Duke of Buccleuch.

It mirrors a similar project in Northumberland, which has seen more than 18,000 grey squirrels killed in the past 18 months.

Richard Williamson, of Red Squirrels in South Scotland , said: "We have reached crisis point in the south with the spread of squirrel pox, and the squirrel conservation groups decided there was a need to roll up our sleeves and deal with the causes. We have got a huge bank of goodwill in south Scotland and we want to galvanise that."

He added: "The red squirrel is an iconic species for Scotland , which is now one of the last strongholds in the UK .

"There's almost a moral obligation on the Scots to manage that iconic species for the nation."

But Ross Minnet, campaigns director for Advocates for Animals, said he was absolutely against killing grey squirrels.

"We think it's morally wrong to kill one species of squirrel for even the potential benefit of another species of squirrel," he said.

He said he did not think killing greys would save reds but, instead, the possibility of putting them on islands where they would be safe from infection should be explored.

"Grey squirrels are here to stay," he said. "All that killing them is doing is attempting to postpone the inevitable."

He added that grey squirrels have been demonised. "There is this image that the greys are 6ft tall and have huge teeth and go around ravaging the red squirrels," he said.

Young Red Squirrels getting ready for a new life

August 13th, 2008 OnlyKent.com

Wildwood's young red squirrels are preparing for the longest and most exciting journey of their lives. Five of the captive bred young are being transported to the North Welsh Island over the next few days.

After a period of acclimatisation the young will be allowed a true taste of freedom and be fending for themselves in the wilds of the Anglesey countryside .

Wildwood is part of a scheme to protect the red squirrel population in the UK , this once common British native is now under very real threat from the invasion of the introduced American grey squirrel. Wildwood breeds the red squirrels in specially created natural enclosures and then after a period of time learning skills from there mother they are transported to Wales where they are released in to a grey squirrel free environment.

“It is great to know that these five youngsters will helping to protect the red squirrel in the UK ” says Paul Wirdnam Head Keeper at Wildwood “and that they will be living wild very shortly”

The Wildwood youngsters ensure that the population in Wales is kept as healthy as possible reducing the chance of in breeding.

The the project leader, Dr Craig Shuttleworth , of the Anglesey Red Squirrel Project which is working with Wildwood has been greatly encouraged by the results of the work carried out so far: ” Anglesey may eventually be the last stand for the red squirrel in Wales and is one of a handful of long term refuges for the red squirrel in Britain as a whole. ”

Wildwood Trust's vision is to bring back our true ‘wildwood', a unique new way of restoring Britain 's land to its natural state. This involves releasing large wild herbivores and developing conservation grazing systems to restore natural ecological processes to help Britain team with wildlife again.

Red Squirrels are just one of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park near Canterbury . For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 7820081.

Anglesey Red Squirrel Project has a Squirrel Cam at a feeding station in Anglesey .
http:// redsquirrels.info/squirrelcam.html

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