Red Squirrels Fight Back!

The native British squirrel is facing extinction at the hands of its American cousin the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel was introduced into Britain about 1876, and since then it has colonized all of England and Wales. Where ever the grey squirrel goes, the red squirrel is wiped out. The red squirrel is now confined to Scotland and the borders.

The grey squirrel carries the squirrel pox virus and it is immune to the disease. However the red squirrel is not immune to the squirrel pox. Research has shown that the geographical spread of the disease and the spread of the grey squirrel is the same.

Eight red squirrels have now been found which have developed a natural immunity to the disease. And for the first time there is now hope that the red squirrel will not become extinct.
Researchers have been collecting dead red squirrels found in the wild. Some 508 were found and eight were found to be immune to the squirrel pox. It was found that they had died from other causes.

Now scientists want to find out how widespread this immunity is. They are hoping that the squirrel has found immunity to the squirrel pox, in the same way that rabbits developed immunity to myxomatosis. It is also hoped that if the red squirrel can’t develop a natural immunity, these 8 red squirrels could provide an antidote to the squirrel pox, and that antidote could be developed within 10 years.

The red squirrel has almost disappeared from most of England and Wales. There is an isolated pocket of them on the Isle of Wight. It is thought that only about 15,000, out of a total population of 140,000 are left in England. The majority of them now populate Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In contrast there is an estimated 2.5 million grey squirrels in Britain. Unless the beleaguered red squirrel can develop some type of immunity, they will be extinct within 25 years.

The red squirrel was once a popular image of childhood. From Tufty, a road safety advert, to Beatrice Potter and Rupert the Bear, the red squirrel is part of our consciousness. To lose the red squirrel is not only unthinkable, it would be unbearable.