News: Over £1M in new funding awarded to aid red squirrel recovery in Scotland

…control activities in the area. This will pave the way for a long-term southward shift of the current “Highland Line Control Zone” – the 10km zone stretching from Balloch to Montrose and buffering the diagonal Highland Boundary Fault Line, where Scotland’s Highland red-only squirrel population intersects with the most northly reaches of grey squirrels incurring from the Lowlands. These new […]

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Celebrating a red squirrel champion

…red squirrel conservation work done in South Scotland in line with practice across the country. To encourage collaboration across the Forum, Peter developed an ‘Offers and Needs Chart’ featuring around 20 activity types and all the groups. This is designed to encourage the exchange of advice and the establishment of trainer-trainee partnerships across the groups, in order to make best… […]

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News: Record participation in national squirrel survey

…Scotland continues to provide a home for the bulk of the country’s red squirrels, which still occurs as the sole species of squirrel over highland Scotland. Happily, the sightings also show that the native species still occupies a large area in the south of Scotland, although here they share the landscape with grey squirrels. The largest concentration of squirrel reports… […]

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Squirrelpox: Staying ahead of the spread

…Central Lowlands, the effects could be devastating. This would pose a threat to Scotland’s core red squirrel populations in Argyll, Grampian and the Highlands should it breach the Highland Line into red territory that is currently free from grey squirrel competition. So what are we doing to monitor the situation? Right across the Central Lowlands, project staff and volunteers have… […]

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News: First death of red squirrel from squirrelpox virus confirmed north of Scotland’s Central Belt

…concerned about this latest news and are asking the local community in Dunfermline to take immediate action and protect red squirrels by taking in all garden and woodland wildlife feeders for the next month, as these can contribute to the spread of the disease from greys to reds and between reds once infected. We are also asking for everybody to… […]

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Reviewing the Scottish Strategy for Red Squirrel Conservation

…While there is still a long way to go, the Scottish Squirrel Group is committed to the development of the new Strategy to guide the next decade of strategic actions and work towards the new ambitious 50-year vision for the recovery of red squirrels throughout Scotland. Stay tuned for further updates as the group continues this vital and important work!… […]

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Studying the life of the urban red squirrel

…attach radio collars. Trapping was carried out in the National Trust-owned woodlands immediately adjacent to the town and in the residential gardens of local volunteers. The radio-collared individuals were then regularly tracked throughout the summer and their locations recorded, to investigate how red squirrels move around the town and make use of the available resources. Alongside the live-capture trapping and […]

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New faces and farewells

…Mearns, and extending this into North-east Angus, with the support of the North-east Team in Aberdeen, whilst also liaising closely with the team in Tayside. The Mearns & East Angus section of the highland line is a crucial location in both the defence of the Highland Line and ensuring that the risk of immigration into Aberdeen city’s island population of… […]

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About Us

These potential solutions are promising for the future of red squirrel conservation in Scotland, and the project is following their developments closely. However, we simply can’t afford to wait in the hope that they will work. The story south of the border has shown us that red squirrels can be completely replaced within the space of a few years, especially… […]

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Leaping into the future

…achieved. In the Central Lowlands, we’ll continue to defend the Highland Line by reducing grey squirrel population densities to a level which minimises the spread of grey squirrels and squirrelpox into core red squirrel populations to the north. We’ll focus on vulnerable “corridors” such as the Mearns cross-border area of South Aberdeenshire and Angus.Other corridors like Strathtay and Tummel, Strathardle… […]

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This Year's Sightings