red.squirrel.smallRed squirrels are beginning to return to areas of Scotland where they have not been seen for several years.

Mel Tonkin of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, who heads the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project said that red squirrels had been spotted in areas including Cults and Countesswells and Bieldside in Aberdeen City.

“Since our official project launch only one year ago, we have worked hard for our cause and it’s heartwarming to know that Scotland’s red squirrels and the communities lucky enough to still share the natural world with these amazing creatures are the ones beginning to reap real rewards,” said Tonkin.

“As the first-ever project to tackle red squirrel conservation on a national scale, SSRS, in partnership with our sister project Red Squirrels in South Scotland (RSSS), co-ordinates work on the ground in key regions to strategically halt the spread of grey squirrels and the squirrelpox virus – the red squirrel’s two biggest threats. Today, we celebrate our success so far.

“In the North-East, thanks to a program of carefully planned grey squirrel control activity, we can report that red squirrels are now being spotted in areas of Aberdeen where they hadn’t been seen for several years.

“This indicates that grey squirrel control is necessary action which not only protects red squirrels from further decline but allows local populations to return to areas they inhabited before the arrival of the grey squirrel.

“Our successes continue in Tayside where more and more land-owners are committing to help us protect red squirrels by controlling grey squirrel populations on their own land and helping us to monitor its effect on red squirrels locally.”

Under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the red squirrel is one of the first species identified as requiring conservation.

Minister for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “The red squirrel is one of our most iconic and beautiful species and we must do everything we can to protect it. Since its introduction to the British Isles, the grey squirrel has left red squirrels on the brink of extinction. The organisations involved with Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels have shown real vision in coming together to save the species.”

Only 121,000 reds are now thought to remain in Scotland as numbers have rapidly declined due to the presence and spread of the grey squirrel, a species introduced from North America in the 19th Century. The red squirrel is in danger of becoming extinct on mainland Scotland if action is not taken to protect it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Conservation, Mammals, Wild, rodents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.