Red squirrel news: conservation, management and ecology

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.

Several articles have been converted to PDF files and are available to be downloaded

Veterinary surgeons in Edinburgh have confirmed the first fatal case of squirrelpox virus occurring in Scotland's red squirrel population.
A single very sick animal displaying the classic symptoms of the virus was found near Lockerbie on Tuesday.

Following an initial examination at the South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital in Dumfries, the squirrel was humanely euthanased on veterinary advice. Tests carried out at the Moredun Institute in Edinburgh on Thursday confirmed the animal was suffering from squirrelpox virus.

Intensive control measures to resist the spread of the virus have been in place since its presence in Scotland was first detected in invasive populations of non native grey squirrel in May 2005. The virus is invariably fatal to Scotland's native red squirrels whilst the grey squirrel population spreading the virus remains unaffected by the disease it carries.

Professor Colin Galbraith, Director of Policy and Advice at Scottish Natural Heritage said: "SNH has been working with the Southern Upland Partnership to monitor the squirrelpox situation in grey squirrels in the South of Scotland for the past six months.

"We were aware that the virus been found in a red squirrel less than a mile south of the border and had feared that, at some point, the disease would transfer to the red squirrels in Scotland. Targeted grey squirrel control in the area has undoubtedly delayed the progression of the disease to Scottish red squirrels and we will continue our intensive grey squirrel control in the affected areas to allow further time to investigate the development of a vaccine."

Professor Galbraith continued: "Scottish Natural Heritage currently funds two Grey Squirrel Control Officers in the area in which this animal was found and we will intensify grey squirrel control in the affected area to reduce risks to a minimum as part of our Contingency Plan. We are also working towards monitoring and testing red squirrels for the presence of the virus in the vicinity of the infected animal to evaluate and minimise the risk of transmission between red squirrels."

Local Red Squirrel Conservation Officer Ann-Marie MacMaster added: "Once red squirrels develop lesions, they are extremely infectious and we desperately need the public in the South of Scotland to report ill red squirrels and grey squirrels.

"We would also ask people in the Lockerbie area especially not to encourage the two species of squirrel together through the use of feeders as this may facilitate the spread of the disease. We would also welcome the assistance of anyone locally who can help with the work of the project to protect red squirrels. Further information on the project and contacts can be obtained from www.red-squirrels.org.uk."

Gordon Patterson, Forestry Commission Scotland Biodiversity policy adviser, said: "We are very concerned about the spread of the virus into red squirrels in Scotland. Our staff are already involved in the monitoring work and we will now look out with extra vigilance for any signs of diseased red squirrels in the area and report them to the project team."

For further information:

Iain Ross, SNH National Press Officer: 07786 190766
Fergus Macneill, SNH Inverness: 01463 725021
Ann-Marie MacMaster, Red Squirrel Conservation Officer, Dumfries and
Galloway:

Squirrel 'Apartheid' Plan Boosting Red Against Grey - The Independent 17 August 2005

Squirrel Nutkin lived "in a wood at the edge of a lake" with his many brothers and sisters. But, a century after Beatrix Potter wrote the tale, its hero - the red squirrel - is under serious threat. Britain's only native squirrel is facing extinction and the Government is backing a policy dubbed "squirrel apartheid" to separate the red squirrel from his larger grey American cousin. Special red-squirrel areas are being created by government agencies in Scotland, Wales and England, which have been designated official grey squirrel exclusion zones. The red squirrel enclaves contain trees that the larger North American squirrels cannot live in because they do not produce the food they like to eat.

In Northumberland, woodland managers have decreed that grey squirrels that encroach into the red squirrel habitat in Kielder forest will be trapped and shot. "We have red squirrel zones which are areas where grey squirrels are excluded," said Steve Lowe, conservation manager for Northumberland Wildlife Trust. "They are designated areas for red squirrels and if grey squirrels are seen anywhere in them they are culled. We also have a fire breach area where the greys are kept out from coming into the area."

There are said to be about 160,000 red squirrels in Britain and their numbers are declining fast. To more accurately monitor their numbers, the Wildlife Trust is also planning a red squirrel census. It wants to encourage the public to inform it when they spot one of the shy creatures so it can log their progress. Throughout Britain woodland managers, including the Forestry Commission and wildlife trusts, are creating red squirrel sanctuaries of pine and conifer trees. Trees such as the Scots pine and Norway spruce that produce cones which red squirrels can live on but grey squirrels do not like are being planted as part of the forestry management programmes. The cones are not only unappetising to grey squirrels, but they grow high in the trees where many large grey squirrels have problems reaching because they are too heavy. Grey squirrels prefer deciduous trees such as oaks and walnuts, which produce nuts rather than seeds.

The Forestry Commission Scotland is creating "buffer zones" in its forests with trees, such as the Norway spruce. The main reason for the red squirrel's decline in Britain is due to the introduction of its grey cousin, which was released in the UK in 1876 from North America. The alien species is larger and the smaller red squirrel finds it hard to compete for food and nesting sites in trees. But while both species eat nuts, only the red squirrel likes to live on the seeds from pine cones.

In the 10,000-acre Clocaenog forest in north Wales, where an exclusion policy has been operating for almost a decade, the Forestry Commission is witnessing a stabilisation of the native red squirrel population. It has recently reintroduced the red squirrel on to the isle of Anglesey, by releasing several pairs kept in a zoo.

BBC News Report 10th Oct 2004	Mid Wales squirrels may be pure race (PDF File)
BBC News Report 2nd June 2005	Mid Wales squirrels prove hard to catch (PDF File)

Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project - BBC News Report 10th Oct 2004

Leaf Conservationists believe Wales may have its own "pure" race of red squirrels. A project to find out more about the elusive mammal has started in the coniferous forests of mid Wales . Researchers say that, because the population is so isolated, the bloodline could be one of the purest in the UK . Numbers are in serious decline. In Wales , there are just a few sites where red squirrel live - in Gwynedd, Clwyd, and central Wales. A two-year study is being carried out by the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project - a partnership which includes the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), the Forestry Commission, private woodland managers, and Carmarthenshire, Powys, and Ceredigion councils. The work will concentrate on the squirrels known to live in the Tywi, Irfon and Crychan Forests . Richard Dodd, senior conservation officer with the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, said funding had been received from CCW to employ a surveyor to carry out the work. "The isolated nature of the squirrels in central Wales may mean they are a very pure race of 'Welsh' red squirrels," he said. "Any opportunity to increase our knowledge of the animal is important, "This may our last chance to save this population of red squirrels, so the success of this project is very important."

Recent research has showed that the majority of the red squirrels in the UK have Scandinavian ancestry. The mammal is widespread in many parts of europe, but has largely been replaced by the grey squirrel in England and Wales . There are around 2.5m greys in the UK , but only about 160,000 reds. Posters, explaining the plight of the reds, are being put up in the survey areas to raise awareness of the project and to ask people to let the Wildlife Trust know if they see any red squirrels. Project officer Anna Hobbs will set traps baited with the squirrels' favourite food, in the hope of catching some of these rare animals, starting in the forests above Llyn Brianne Reservoir in Carmarthenshire. She aims to record as much information as possible about them before releasing them back into the forest. Two red squirrels were caught during a recent trapping session carried out in privately-owned forests at nearby Bryn Arau Duon. Any grey squirrels that are trapped during the survey work will be humanely destroyed.

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