What action can be taken to prevent the extinction of the Red Squirrel ? (1 Viewer)

[ikw101]

In November 2005 Red Alert North England launched "An ambitious and exciting project to save the red squirrel in mainland England" promising "a carefully worked out and broadly supported strategy" developed by the Red Alert North England Steering Group with representatives from the Forestry Commission, English Nature, Defra, the Wildlife Trusts, The National Parks, The Forestry and Timber Association, Red Alert NW and Red Alert NE. The strategy based upon the establishment of 15 red squirrel reserves surrounded by 5km buffer/grey squirrel exclusion zones promised fresh hope for the survival of the English Red Squirrel.

Three years later and it has become increasingly clear the strategy is failing.

An extract from today's Guardian "For decades, Formby, and the surrounding borough of Sefton, has had the highest density of red squirrels in England and, until recently, it was not unusual to see groups of 20 or 30 animals together.

But visit Formby now and the squirrels are missing. A survey planned for next month is expected to confirm that a deadly virus has swept through the area, sending the red squirrel population crashing to such low levels that it may never recover. Hundreds of the animals are feared to have died, and many more are not expected to make it through the winter. According to Andrew Brockbank, the National Trust property manager who has worked at Formby for 11 years, the situation is "very bleak".

The squirrelpox virus arrived at Sefton's isolated red squirrel colony in October last year. Since then, it has spread viciously, with the unusually high number of squirrels helping the disease jump from animal to animal. A survey in spring this year found that numbers were already down 60% on the 1,000 or so counted at the same time in 2007"

Full article at the Guardian's website

Clearly as a species listed on Appendix III of the Bern Convention the UK has an obligation to afford the Red Squirrel special protection. The reserves and buffer zone strategy has failed. The species recovery plan is doomed. Even further afield in northern Italy the outlook is becoming increasingly bleak

What action can be taken to prevent the extinction of the Red Squirrel ?

 

[Martin Thomas]

This has been comprehensively discussed following your post in July in "The Last Stand of the English Red Squirrel..." thread and I thnk you'll find that (putting aside the question of exactly what [species] we are attempting to conserve) there isn't anything practical or affordable that wil have a dramatic impact.

That said, I wouldn't say buffer zones haven't worked per se. Peter Lurz's work in Northumberland has shown that woodland management can make a difference but there's still nothing in the armoury to fight squirrel pox.

Island refuges may form a temporary solution until something canbe done on a national scale prior to a reintroduction but I suspect the political/Political and finacial will is sadly lacking. Even then both reds and greys can swim when they have the need to!

My biggest gripe is with the lack of monitoring and protection within the buffer zones. It's one thing to declare a grey-free zone but drawing a circle on a map doesn't seem to bother the greys fr some reason. Maybe we need to send them on a navigation course?

Red Alert's Lottery funding conditions specifically prohibits grey control (although additional funding has been found to help in this area) meaning hands were very firmy tied. Public education is vital but convincing the public to rid the nation of greys just isn't realistic, especially as there are a number of generations of people in the majority of England who have never seen a red squirrel.

The current trapping and shooting measures are merely stemming the tide and the hope is that some 'miracle' easily-administered contraceptive/genetic fix for greys is just around the corner. A mass cull is out of the question - financially, practically and politically.

As for a vaccine, there's still uncertainty about how the pox is transmitted between greys and reds (latest thinking is that it may be via ticks and fleas when animals are in close proximity or using the same dreys) so not much hope until the mechanism is fully understood. Even then, how could it be administered? Aerial spraying? Best hope might be genetic modification but now we're into playing god or God.

As someone lucky enough to have a colony of red squirrels in my back garden and almost on the front line of the grey invasion, I'm passionate to defend what's left but all I have is hope, keen eyes and a gun.

Thanks for raising the issue again.

 

[ColonelBlimp]

Even if it could be achieveable physically it will never be done out of a mixture of apathy and misplaced sympathy for the greys. And that is sad for someone like me who has only seen reds twice, but must be quite heartbreaking for someone like you Martin who has them on their doorstep.

And now by the sounds of it, the whole of continental Europe's reds are b*ggered, due to the actions of some phenomenally short-sighted "activists" in Italy!

 

[Amarillo]

Realistically, unless we wipe out the greys, the red will eventually be extinct in Britain. Buffer zones and small-scale culls are just postponing the inevitable.

As shooting them would appear to be unrealistic, the only hope is the development of some kind of contraceptive.

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Perhaps Gordon Ramsey could promote Grey Squirrels as the next trendy food fad. I imagine they have a nice 'nutty' taste. I am being semi-serious here.

Ron

 

[ColonelBlimp]

As shooting them would appear to be unrealistic, the only hope is the development of some kind of contraceptive

Shooting them works, and is a damn sight more cost-effective than a contraceptive that has been shown to be much less cost-effective and plagued with technical issues.