News and Blogs

  The first identified death of a red squirrel from squirrelpox virus north of Scotland’s Central Belt has been confirmed on the outskirts of Dunfermline, Fife. This news could have serious consequences for the area’s red squirrel populations, and people living in the region are urged to remain vigilant. The case was confirmed via post-mortem examination of a red squirrel by the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, after the squirrel was posted in by a member of the public who found it whilst walking in woodlands on the northern outskirts of Dunfermline last month. This red squirrel had ulcers and scabs around the eyes and mouth, both of which were confirmed as pox virus using microscopic examination at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and electron microscopy at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge. Squirrelpox is a virus carried by grey squirrels which does not affect them but can be rapidly lethal when passed to red squirrels. Symptoms include ulcers, scabs and weeping lesions on the face, paws and genitalia, all of which can prevent reds from eating, drinking or moving. As a result, it is usually fatal within two weeks and an outbreak can cause local populations to crash. Liam Wilson, from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies said: “This is a worrying development for red squirrels in Scotland, as this case north of the Central Belt may be the prelude to squirrelpox expansion both locally ...

  What would the full recovery of Scotland’s red squirrel population look like? This is the question being tackled by the Scottish Squirrel Group, a multi-disciplinary group convened by NatureScot and made up of key Government agencies, land owners and managers, volunteer groups, researchers and academics, and environmental NGOs in order to revise the Scottish Strategy for Red Squirrel Conservation 2015-2025.   Robyn Stewart, Species and Habitats Officer & Red Squirrel Species Lead at RSPB Scotland, tells us more:   The current Scottish Strategy for Red Squirrel Conservation has been primarily delivered through the partnership project Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels – initially though its Developing Community Action phase (2017 – 2022) and more recently in its Transition phase (2022-2024). With Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) now moving into a new phase, the project is being restructured and partners are working on developing more sustainable, long-term solutions to deliver key actions for red squirrel conservation. The revision of the current Scottish Strategy is a hugely important step in steering effective conservation action for red squirrel over the coming years, and the Scottish Squirrel Group have been tasked with drafting an ambitious 50-year vision for red squirrel conservation in Scotland. The revised Strategy will cover a 10-year timeline (2025 – 2035) informed by this vision, and will be developed using the Internatio ...

  Since 2017 SSRS has helped establish 17 dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer Local Network Groups across the south of Scotland, providing them with training and support to control grey squirrels and monitor, promote and protect red squirrels where they live.   As our latest 2022-24 SSRS Transition Phase comes to an end, all volunteer groups in the south of Scotland will now be classified as fully independent, although SSRS can continue to support efforts via our Community Hub, social media pages, and some necessary professional grey squirrel control in key areas. Below is a list of FAQs for independent red squirrel networks operating in South Scotland that we will update when further resources and information becomes available. Please refer to this page in the first instance, but if you have a question that is not covered here you can or email the project at squirrels@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk Last updated: 21st March 2024   Is there any funding for SSRS staff support in the south of Scotland after 31st March 2024? Yes. Limited funding from SSRS partners has been secured to enable continued SSRS grey squirrel control in some priority areas in the south of Scotland for at least the next six months, with the Scottish Wildlife Trust continuing to lead and employ staff. Priority areas to be covered are: Annan Valley PARC Nith Valley PARC Solway Forests PARC Tweeddale PARC and northern parts of the Teviot & Rule PA ...

Over £1m in new funding has been announced to aid red squirrel conservation efforts in key areas across Scotland for the next two years. A total grant of £1,052,796 has been awarded by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, which supports the restoration of wildlife and habitats across the country. The new funds will support the Scottish Wildlife Trust led Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) project to deliver vital conservation work on the ground and develop new and innovative techniques to halt red squirrel declines, reinforce protections for the core red only populations of the Highlands, and progress long-term aims for population expansion in the North East and Central Lowlands of Scotland. SSRS has been working since 2009 to protect Scotland’s iconic red squirrels, whose populations are under threat from the spread of the invasive non-native grey squirrel. Greys outcompete red squirrels for food and living space and can carry the squirrelpox virus which does not harm them but is deadly to reds. Greys were first introduced to the UK from North America by the Victorians and have since displaced red squirrels in most of England and Wales, with more than 75% of the UK’s total remaining population residing in Scotland today. Over the next two years the new funding will enable the creation of new community focused rapid response monitoring and control networks across the northern Central Lowlands, made possible by increa ...

  Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has released the results of its fifth annual Great Scottish Squirrel Survey, revealing that 2023 public participation was the second highest since its inception, beating all previous years, bar the record-breaking pandemic lockdown year of 2020. According to the survey, which was conducted between the 2nd and 8th of October and asked for the Scottish public to spot and record all grey and red squirrels, a total of 1334 people took part, reporting just under 2000 red and grey squirrel sightings across the country, almost 2.5 times as many as were reporting during the 2022 survey. These sightings provide invaluable data for conservationists and scientists working on the ground to protect the endangered native red squirrel. Programme Manager Nicole Still said: “This is an outstanding increase and fantastic result for red squirrels in Scotland. Every single sighting submitted on our website helps us to understand population distributions across the country and take targeted action to protect red squirrels from their greatest threat, the invasive non-native grey squirrel. We are thrilled to see sightings coming in from all over Scotland, and many hundreds of people responding to our call to take part in this mass citizen science event. We’d like to thank everybody who got involved, we couldn’t carry out our vital red squirrel conservation activities without the invaluable data gathered from the survey.” Mapping of t ...

  The Scottish Government recently launched a consultation on tackling the nature emergency and are seeking public feedback by 14 December. This is one of the biggest proposals for high level policy changes ever seen in Scotland, and responding is an action open to everyone which could make a fundamental difference to the future of Scotland’s wildlife and landscapes. The strategic framework for biodiversity, entitled ‘Tackling the Nature Emergency’, is a set of policy and legislative proposals aimed at reversing the decline of biodiversity in Scotland. The main elements are: Scottish Biodiversity Strategy – the plan to restore and regenerate biodiversity across our land and seas by 2045. Nature Networks – the plan to connect different habitats so that wildlife can move and adapt. 30 by 30 – the plan to increase the area of land that is protected or managed for nature to 30% by 2030. Nature Targets – the plan to set legal targets for nature that the government has to meet. National Parks – the plan to designate at least one new National Park in Scotland by 2026. For SSRS supporters, this is an opportunity to speak up for red squirrels and make sure their interests are fully represented. The more people that respond for reds, the more likely the government will take these views into account. (c) Raymond Leinster To help SSRS supporters respond to the consultation (as there is quite a bit of content to digest!) the Scottish Wildlif ...

  Southern Uplands Partnership is delighted to announce that the Red Squirrel Recovery Network project, an ambitious cross-border red squirrel conservation initiative, has received development funding* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to progress plans for a 5-year project.  The project is led by Northumberland Wildlife Trust working in partnership with the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, the Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust, Knowsley Safari Foundation in Prescot in Merseyside and The Southern Uplands Partnership covering southern Scotland. Made possible by National Lottery players, the project aims to protect and conserve populations of red squirrels in the north of England and southern Scotland. Development funding of £158,600 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help Northumberland Wildlife Trust and a team of partners progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date. During the 12-month development phase the countrywide team will develop the methodology for large scale grey squirrel fertility control, plan audience engagement and activity programmes and write a conservation plan. In addition, team members will work together to collect baseline data across the project areas on squirrel presence/absence, grey squirrel management activity and volunteer demographics to establish the current range of volunteers as well as identify opportunities to encourage new volunteers. Th ...

Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is calling on people in Scotland to take part in the fifth nationwide Great Scottish Squirrel Survey between 2-8 October (National Red Squirrel Week). Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, working in priority areas to protect red squirrels from the spread of the invasive non-native grey squirrel. Between 2-8 October we are encouraging members of the public to explore the outdoors, get squirrel spotting, and add sightings of red and grey squirrels to scottishsquirrels.org.uk. The annual Great Scottish Squirrel Survey is the most important public event for comparing yearly distributions of red and grey squirrels. Last year we received 10,484 sightings in total with the help of the survey, our third highest year since they began collecting public squirrel sightings in 2010. The highest year to date was in 2020 when 3000 sightings were recorded during the survey, and 22,772 were recorded overall. Programme Manager Nicole Still said: “Public sightings play an essential role in informing and directing our strategic efforts. Whilst we recognise 2020 was an unusual year with an increase in people spending time in the Scottish outdoors, we would love the public to once again head outside and help us increase our sightings to improve our understanding of Scotland’s squirrel populations”. Conservation Officer for Tayside Susie McNaughton said: “With ample nature fo ...

Charity Trees for Life has been working since 1993 to restore previously lost native habitats and species to the Scottish Highlands. Since 2016 their Red Squirrel Reintroduction Project has worked to help red squirrels repopulate areas where they had previously gone extinct, translocating more than 200 red squirrels to 10 new areas in the northwest Highlands, creating thriving new populations. We sat down with their Project Manager, Sarah Woodfin, to find out more about the work of the project:   Can you tell everybody firstly about your background, and what led you to your current role with the project? I have spent the past four and a half years working with red squirrel conservation projects. I have an undergraduate degree in ecology and a masters in conservation biology and most of my work and interests have been with small mammal ecology and conservation. I have worked with a range of animals, from native mice and voles to species of rabbit found in south-east Asia. I began working with red squirrels in 2019 as a monitoring and control officer for the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel Project and I worked with this project for four years. In March I joined Trees for Life to work on the red squirrel reintroduction project.   What are the main aims of the Trees for Life Red Squirrel Reintroduction project? The Scottish Highlands hold the largest remaining population of red squirrels in the UK. However, red squirrels were sti ...

  As we celebrate the fifth annual Great Scottish Squirrel Survey (running from the 2nd – 8th October), when recording those all-important sightings, how can we ensure that the squirrels we’re spotting are indeed the species we believe? When a sighting is brief – perhaps seen from a moving vehicle, or a fleeting glimpse of a furry tail in a tree – what tell-tale signs can we look for to distinguish between Scotland’s native red squirrel and the non-native grey squirrel?   © Raymond Leinster   Red Squirrels Let’s start with red squirrels! Because their fur colour varies so much (generally a chestnut coat, but also can include black, or even grey), it’s helpful to try and distinguish other identifiable characteristics. Red squirrels have ear tufts, which can be lost in the summer months, but generally re-appear in the autumn.  They also have a smaller, slender body than the grey squirrel, with an adult red squirrel being around half the size/weight of an adult grey squirrel.              © Daniel Martins   Grey Squirrels Grey squirrels are larger than red squirrels (they can reach almost double their size) and have small ears with no tufts. They can often present with red colouring, which is why it’s important to consider other characteristics when spotting greys. The most definitive way to tell them apart from reds is by their distinctive white fringes or ‘halos’ a ...