How do grey squirrels threaten red squirrels?
Squirrel pox has decimated our red squirrels
The non-native grey squirrel was introduced to England in the late 1870s from America and is the primary cause of decline of the red squirrel.
It does so by out-competing red squirrels for food in deciduous and mixed woodlands and by transmitting a disease ‘squirrelpox’, the squirrel Parapoxvirus, which is lethal to red squirrels.
Surveys show conservation work by volunteers has kept red squirrel numbers stable across the north of England since 2012. Saving our native red squirrel is relentless and long term, can you help?
Red squirrel © Andy Naylor