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Grey Squirrels Threaten Red Squirrel Populations in UK

3:11 AM ETDeveloping

Science Desk

In Short: The introduction of grey squirrels to the UK from North America over 150 years ago has posed a significant threat to the native red squirrel population, according to conservationists.

According to Graham Paskett from the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, the grey squirrel population in the UK now ranges between 2.5 million and 2.7 million.

Red squirrel populations have plummeted from about 3.5 million to less than 300,000 in the UK, with only 39,000 remaining in England, according to the Woodland Trust.

Jackie Foott, from the British Red Squirrel conservation group, explained that grey squirrels outcompete reds for habitat and food, leading to the decline of red squirrel numbers.

Foott noted that grey squirrels, which are twice the size of reds, can access food sources that reds cannot, further exacerbating the competition.

The Red Squirrel Survival Trust has developed a method to deliver oral contraceptives to grey squirrels using a 'hopper' that grey squirrels can access.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has acknowledged the threat of grey squirrels and is taking steps to protect endangered red squirrels.

Red squirrel conservationists are working with farmers and landowners to control grey squirrel populations near red colonies.

In May, a Defra spokesperson stated that the government is tackling the threat of non-native grey squirrels to protect endangered red squirrels.

Grey squirrels carry a virus that is deadly to red squirrels, further complicating conservation efforts.

The situation is particularly dire in England, where red squirrel populations are critically low.

Conservationists warn that red squirrels could disappear entirely within 25 years if current trends continue.

What this adds

What's still developing

• But when exactly did the squirrel stand-off begin and how bad has the situation become?
• Brocklehurst is said to have released a pair of greys into Henbury Park, near Macclesfield in Cheshire, that he had brought back from a business trip to the United States.
• A petition earlier this year calling for urgent action to conserve red squirrels attracted more than 75,000 signatures Jackie Foott, from the British Red Squirrel conservation group, told the BBC that reds and greys cannot coexist in the same location and that to protect the reds you have to "get rid of the greys - we realised that a while ago".
• "Greys outcompete reds for habitat and food - they don't actually physically attack them but they do bother them," said Foott.
• Because greys typically weigh 500g - approximately twice that of reds, only they can access the contraceptive.
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• The Woodland Trust reckons there are only 39,000 of them left, while the Save Our Reds campaign thinks just 15,000 remain, including in conservation areas such as Formby on Merseyside.
• In stark contrast, since their introduction from North America in the 19th Century, greys have thrived at the expense of their distant cousins, which compete for habitats and carry lethal viruses.
• The first verifiable importation of greys, external is widely understood to have come 150 years ago, when a Victorian banker named Thomas V.
• "People don't realise just how much damage they are doing to trees, crops and properties - they cause at least £40m damage to forests and forestry services each year." But why can reds and greys not live cheek by jowl?

Sources

• BBClink