Red and Gray Squirrels in The UK
A decline of the red squirrel and the rise of the Eastern gray squirrel, an import from North America, has been widely remarked upon in British popular culture. It is mostly regarded as the invading grays driving out the native red species. Evidence also shows that gray squirrels are vectors of the squirrel parapoxvirus for which no vaccine is currently available, and which is deadly to red squirrels but does not seem to affect the non-native host. Currently the red squirrel only survives in a few isolated areas of the UK, coniferous forests in Scotland, and in England's Formby, the Lake District, Brownsea Island, and the Isle of Wight. Special measures are in place to contain and remove any infiltration of gray squirrels into these areas.
The Eastern gray squirrel is regarded as vermin it is illegal to release any into the wild; any caught have to be humanely destroyed.
Read more about this topic: Tree Squirrel
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