Squirrel 'apartheid' plan boosting red against grey

Squirrel Nutkin lived "in a wood at the edge of a lake" with his many brothers and sisters. But, a century after Beatrix Potter wrote the tale, its hero - the red squirrel - is under serious threat.

Britain's only native squirrel is facing extinction and the Government is backing a policy dubbed "squirrel apartheid" to separate the red squirrel from his larger grey American cousin.

Special red-squirrel areas are being created by government agencies in Scotland, Wales and England, which have been designated official grey squirrel exclusion zones.

The red squirrel enclaves contain trees that the larger North American squirrels cannot live in because they do not produce the food they like to eat.

In Northumberland, woodland managers have decreed that grey squirrels that encroach into the red squirrel habitat in Kielder forest will be trapped and shot. "We have red squirrel zones which are areas where grey squirrels are excluded," said Steve Lowe, conservation manager for Northumberland Wildlife Trust. "They are designated areas for red squirrels and if grey squirrels are seen anywhere in them they are culled. We also have a fire breach area where the greys are kept out from coming into the area."

There are said to be about 160,000 red squirrels in Britain and their numbers are declining fast. To more accurately monitor their numbers, the Wildlife Trust is also planning a red squirrel census.

It wants to encourage the public to inform it when they spot one of the shy creatures so it can log their progress.

Throughout Britain woodland managers, including the Forestry Commission and wildlife trusts, are creating red squirrel sanctuaries of pine and conifer trees. Trees such as the Scots pine and Norway spruce that produce cones which red squirrels can live on but grey squirrels do not like are being planted as part of the forestry management programmes.

The cones are not only unappetising to grey squirrels, but they grow high in the trees where many large grey squirrels have problems reaching because they are too heavy.

Grey squirrels prefer deciduous trees such as oaks and walnuts, which produce nuts rather than seeds.

The Forestry Commission Scotland is creating "buffer zones" in its forests with trees, such as the Norway spruce.

The main reason for the red squirrel's decline in Britain is due to the introduction of its grey cousin, which was released in the UK in 1876 from North America. The alien species is larger and the smaller red squirrel finds it hard to compete for food and nesting sites in trees.

But while both species eat nuts, only the red squirrel likes to live on the seeds from pine cones.

In the 10,000-acre Clocaenog forest in north Wales, where an exclusion policy has been operating for almost a decade, the Forestry Commission is witnessing a stabilisation of the native red squirrel population. It has recently reintroduced the red squirrel on to the isle of Anglesey, by releasing several pairs kept in a zoo.

Readers who spot a red squirrel should report it on www.wildlifetrust.org.uk.