Danielle Desouza
Discovers the best places around to spot the beautiful, bushy-tailed, enduringly popular red squirrel
With their beautiful red coats, red squirrels have lived in the UK and Ireland for around 10,000 years – but now this lovely creature is only found in limited parts of the countryside. Larger grey squirrels have won the battle for food and habitat to replace their smaller cousins across most of England and Wales.
And The Wildlife Trusts warns: “Unfortunately, without conservation management, red squirrels could become extinct in England in 10 years. Time is really running out to save them.”
In Ireland, red squirrels have also faced many difficulties and Katy Bell, senior conservation officer at Ulster Wildlife, says that they “have faced lots of problems across the UK and Ireland because of the introduction of the grey squirrel, which is a non-native invasive species.”
Katy adds: “They’re not having an easy time of it, along with woodland loss and habitat loss as well.”
Red squirrels are still to be found in Europe in places such as Germany, Poland, Portugal and Croatia, and in East Asian countries