Return of the red squirrel in Wales
The grey squirrel has had a bad couple of years. OK, to be honest, it's history has never been pleasant. It has long been associated with all but wiping out the native British red squirrel because of it's superior size, strength, appetite and fatal viruses that it passes onto the reds. Recently the alien grey has also been associated with the decline of certain bird populations as it destroys nests and eats the eggs and young chicks.
However, Wales has been leading the way in fighting for the return of the red and culling the grey. The project, started by Lady Anglesey and Esme Kirby, has helped fund genetic research and analysis into the red squirrel population, which has 'bottlenecked' and is in danger of being wiped out through disease.
In response to this threat, the project started a captive breeding and soft release programme in Newborough Forest, which was hoped to bring new blood into the Anglesey red squirrel population.
The success of this programme was confirmed by Dr. Shuttleworth when he surmised that red squirrels can be effectively re-introduced, providing the greys are removed first. The culling of greys to a few hundred has allowed the red squirrels to thrive and their numbers are increasing year on year.
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My thoughts:
With programmes like this I hope that within my lifetime red squirrels will be a common site amongst our woodlands, and the grey will be one less pest to worry about.
3 votes
