…fallen drastically to just 120,000. This is largely due to the spread of the grey squirrel, which was first introduced to Britain from North America in the mid-19th Century. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and made possible thanks to National Lottery players and the Dumfries & Galloway LEADER 2014 – 2020… […]
…know how many red squirrels there are in Scotland? Not really. Counting the actual number of red squirrels is a near impossible task, and like most small animals their numbers will vary naturally from year to year depending on factors like food availability and weather. It’s been estimated that there could be around 120,000 red squirrels left in Scotland, 75%… […]
…the opportunity to get to know their local patch of nature. However, clearly many people have caught the squirrel-spotting bug as we have still received more than 13,000 sightings to our website so far this year. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our citizen science campaign, and to all the organisations, community groups and volunteers… […]
…pine forests of the Highlands. Under threat Red squirrel populations have seriously declined, with only around 120,000 remaining in Scotland today. In some places they have not been seen for many years. The greatest threat to the red squirrel’s future in Scotland is the invasive non-native grey squirrel. Larger and more robust, grey squirrels out-compete red squirrels for food… […]
…its aims and how new volunteers can become involved. In this time, we have also appeared in the local newspaper: Gateway (circulation 66,000) around the Wigtown and Newton Stewart area. On the monitoring side of our group; a trusty band of volunteers (including myself) have been out taking hair samples from feeder boxes to ascertain the numbers of Reds and… […]
…Group. In his role as Chair, Peter is responsible for coordinating all volunteer efforts undertaken by the group, from surveys to targeted grey squirrel control. These efforts have been fundamental to the protection of local red squirrels from continuous incursions by the non-native grey squirrel and the effect of squirrelpox, the lethal virus that greys carry. The group is working… […]
…highly invasive grey squirrel could also spread further into the Grampians and the Highlands, threatening Scotland’s largest populations of red squirrels. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is encouraging people to report sightings of both red and grey squirrels online. The project is also looking for volunteers in the area to support its vital conservation work. Sarah Woodfin, Monitoring Officer, North East… […]
…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 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Guidelines for Species Conservation Planning, the gold standard for species conservation planning which… […]
…funding was one of the first areas we needed to focus on, so a brochure was produced asking people to support the group by becoming group members for a fee of £5 per annum. Membership currently stands at 42 members (with over 200 followers on Facebook) and our members and followers are updated on our activities regularly either online or… […]
Professor Ronald J Roberts, Chairman of Bradan Biosecurity, discusses the importance of strong biosecurity protocols and how they can protect Scotland’s red squirrels from the threat of squirrelpox. He is a veterinary surgeon who has personally been involved in the development and testing of Virkon ®S, a broad-spectrum disinfectant, for the last 20 years. Virkon ®S is used across… […]
