Protecting red squirrels

A group has been set up to draw together the efforts of volunteers across the North of England to protect red squirrels from dying out.

One of the most important nature issues in the North of England is the plight of the threatened Red Squirrel.


Michael King is the webmaster of the Northern Red Squirrels website. Young red squirrel watching proceedings from high in a beech tree in Ashington during February 2008.

Click here to watch video pt 1

Northumberland and Cumbria are two of the last remaining strongholds of the native species which has been dwindling since grey squirrels were introduced to Britain from North America in the 19th Century.

The grey has dominated habitats and food supplies and carries a pox virus which is fatal to the reds.


Grey Squirrel


Over the years a number of groups of volunteers have sprung up to try to safeguard the reds.

Critical point

And now an umbrella group, Northern Red Squirrels, has been set up to bring together all the voluntary groups and individuals to coordinate their efforts.

Sally Hardy is the group's Northumberland coordinator and a member of Ponteland Red Squirrels.


The main reason for the decline is the grey squirrel. Introduced from North America in the 1870s it has expanded its range and, through a combination of food competition and disease, has displaced the red. Red squirrel in spring Photo by Peter Curran

Click here to watch video pt 2

She said: "I feel as though we are at a critical point. Unless we do something we are going to lose our red squirrels.

"It's such a shame if we are going to let them disappear.

"It's an emotive issue. We realise that we are lucky to still have red squirrels in the North of England and they are worth fighting for."
Interactive map

Sally said the grey squrrels had been introduced to this country without the full consequences being examined and they were just trying to "redress the balance" through their work.


Grey squirrels are larger than the reds, eat more, and live at higher densities. Squirrel in Kielder Forest Photo by Forestry Commission


The idea for the umbrella group is to help the various groups work together so they are aware of what each other is doing and to coordinate their action and so make it as effective as possible.

It will enable groups to stay independent but provide them with the back-up of support.

Northern Red Squirrels will focus on protecting the red squirrels' habitats, red conservation, raising awareness about the reds and the control of grey squirrels.


As the population of grey squirrels grows, they eat more of the red squirrels' food. Erect squirrel in Kielder Photo by Forestry Commission



One of the key parts of the project is an interactive map on the group's website. It shows where the different red squirrel groups are based and contact details so people can get in touch with sightings or if they want to get involved.

It will also be a channel to offer support and help groups with their fundraising and encourage openness between all the groups.


Posing for the camera in woodland located at the western entrance to Ashington in February 2008. Photo: Michael King.

Source:BBC

Source: Northern Red Squirrels

Source: Forestry Commision

A ray of hope has been offered for one of the UK's most iconic and endangered animals.

Scientists have found that some red squirrels have developed immunity to a disease that has ravaged their numbers.

Click here to watch video

The pox is transmitted by grey squirrels; but while greys suffer no ill effects from it, if a red catches the virus it will be dead within weeks.

The findings, published in EcoHealth, suggest a vaccine could now help to save red squirrels from annihilation.

Grey squirrels were first introduced to the UK from North America in the late 19th Century.



As the grey squirrels increased their range, red squirrels have suffered huge population declines and now exist in just a few pockets around the British Isles.

Conservationists estimate that there are only 211,000 red squirrels left in the UK (with approximately 100,000 in Scotland) compared with more than 2.7 million greys.

While scientists believe the larger and more aggressive grey squirrels have been able to out-compete their red cousins for resources, they believe that a deadly pox that appeared soon after the greys arrived has also been responsible for the catastrophic decline.

Grey squirrels act as a reservoir for squirrel poxvirus - they are able to carry the disease without suffering from any ill effects. But this is not the case for red squirrels.


Grey squirrels carry a deadly virus


Tony Sainsbury, from the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, who is the lead author of the paper, said: "Squirrel pox is almost always fatal in red squirrels

"We are not sure exactly how it kills them - we think it must have some sort of effect on the heart or another vital organ because it can kill them very quickly."

He said that the pox was having a devastating effect on red squirrel populations, causing numbers to plummet 25 times faster than in areas where greys did not carry the virus.

David Stapleford, a red squirrel breeder at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, Norfolk said: "The pox annihilates the red."

Reds revenge

But this latest study suggests the reds may be fighting back.

Dr Sainsbury and his colleagues were testing fluid samples taken from 500 squirrels that had been brought to the Institute of Zoology for autopsies between 1993 and 2005 to investigate how the pox was spreading.


The pox can kill reds within days


However, as the team screened them for antibodies to the virus, the researchers discovered something extremely interesting.

He told the BBC: "Up to now, we have never found antibodies to the virus in the red squirrels.

"So it appeared that whenever red squirrels were exposed to the virus, they were getting the disease and dying.

"But when we looked at these samples, we found there were eight squirrels that had antibodies to the virus.

"They must have been exposed at some point to the virus, and either didn't develop the disease or developed the disease and managed to fight it."

This, he said, was the first evidence that red squirrels might have some immunity and would be able to counteract the disease.

The team is now planning to look at how widespread this immunity might be and to investigate why and how the red squirrels have been able to develop this ability to resist the pox.

The findings suggest that a vaccine could now be a viable way to save the reds.

Dr Sainsbury said: "While developing a vaccine would take years and a lot of investment, this study gives us an idea that there is a good chance of a vaccine working because we now know that reds can develop immunity.


Population estimated at 211,000 ---------- Population estimated at 2.77m
(30k England, 121k Scotland, 10k -------- (2m England, 0.2m Scotland,
Wales, 50k N Ireland and ------------------- - 0.32m Wales, 250k N Ireland and
Republic of Ireland). ---------------------------- Republic of Ireland).

Native to GB, probably ------------------------ Native to North America,
introduced to Ireland. -------------------------- introduced to Britain in 1870s.

Habitat: coniferous forests. ------------------ Wide range of habitats, including broadleaved and conifer forests.


Life expectancy - up to seven --------------- Can live up to nine years in the wild.
years in the wild.

Squirrel poxvirus is nearly always --------- Can carry squirrel poxvirus with no effects.
fatal to red squirrels.

Source: BBC

Groovy -

I first discovered red squirrels on a photographer's website. I think it's one of the most charming little animals I've ever seen. It will be a terrible shame if this species is crowded out by the common, dominant grey. Not only is the grey in forests all over N. America, it has invaded cities and suburbs, sometimes becoming overpopulated. I hate to think that any animal, including the grey squirrel, is expendable and don't know of a good solution. But, the little red fellow deserves a better chance at survival. Whenever an aggressive, non-native species is present - plant or animal - I believe it's necessary to thin or eradicate the invader. A good example is Hawaii, which has several destructive invader-species, most notably the wild pig. (I know no one likes to discuss this directly, but what choice is there? The more popular and humane trap-and-relocate method is not viable for small, fast-reproducers like the squirrel.)

Innoculation against the pox virus is a great possibility, but I do wonder how people in the field could manage to innoculate masses of red squirrels. Any ideas about how this would be done?

Diane,

I wonder if it were possible to inoculate reds by spraying them from a plane, a bit like "crop dusting"?

In Northumberland alone, up to 18,000 greys have been culled since the beginning of last year. This is terrible, however, conservationists say the reds are making a significant comeback. And, as you point out, it is not viable to trap such vast numbers of squirrels humanely.

Read here for more on the culling of the greys.