Squirrel apartheid plan boosting red against grey

Marie Woolf:

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.

Apartheid being set up in Scotland