saluki
Well-known member
An interesting article on grey squirrels in Italy on 'Wild Europe', Radio 4, last night. Apparently there is very little inter-reaction between them and the native Reds (probably the same in the UK IMO), but the Reds lose out in poor seed/nut seasons. The Greys, partly because they spend more time in the ground, find many of the Red's stashes of nuts (a roughly 50/50 split between the squirrel's remembering where they left them and scent). The Reds - particularly the females - need the extra food to make sure they reach the breeding season in good condition. But a poor autumn harvest plus the loss of food to the Greys mean that the Reds only have one litter instead of (in Italy) two. Therefore, the Greys increase whilst the numbers of Reds falls.
In the mid Nineties it was realised that if something wasn't done soon the Greys would have gained a foothold on the woods around the foothills of the Alps and from there spread into central europe. In 1996 The National Wildlife Institute (NWI) initiated a programme of irradication. However, some radical animal rights groups strongly opposed the project, organising small demonstrations at a local level. Then, in June 1997, they took the NWI to court and managed to halt the project. The case was closed only in July 2000, with the full acquittal of the NWI. The three-year legal struggle caused the failure of the entire campaign. As a result of the suspension of all action, the grey squirrel has now reached the forests of the Alps and eradication is no longer considered feasible. Expansion into a large part of Eurasia, and subsequent decline of the red squirrel, is the likeliest scenario.
What an appauling, misguided decision the AR groups made - one that may lead in time to the loss of Red Squirrel from huge parts of its natural range.
Some of these groups, having probably succeeded in getting hunting with dogs banned in the UK, will turn their attention to other forms of - as they see it - animal abuse. One of these will undoubtedly be conservation. Unfortunately, they fail to see the bigger picture, concentrating solely on the plight of the individual, even - it appears - at the cost of another native species extinction from large part if it's former habitat.
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/clsm/research/invasive_species/invasive.htm#italy
saluki
In the mid Nineties it was realised that if something wasn't done soon the Greys would have gained a foothold on the woods around the foothills of the Alps and from there spread into central europe. In 1996 The National Wildlife Institute (NWI) initiated a programme of irradication. However, some radical animal rights groups strongly opposed the project, organising small demonstrations at a local level. Then, in June 1997, they took the NWI to court and managed to halt the project. The case was closed only in July 2000, with the full acquittal of the NWI. The three-year legal struggle caused the failure of the entire campaign. As a result of the suspension of all action, the grey squirrel has now reached the forests of the Alps and eradication is no longer considered feasible. Expansion into a large part of Eurasia, and subsequent decline of the red squirrel, is the likeliest scenario.
What an appauling, misguided decision the AR groups made - one that may lead in time to the loss of Red Squirrel from huge parts of its natural range.
Some of these groups, having probably succeeded in getting hunting with dogs banned in the UK, will turn their attention to other forms of - as they see it - animal abuse. One of these will undoubtedly be conservation. Unfortunately, they fail to see the bigger picture, concentrating solely on the plight of the individual, even - it appears - at the cost of another native species extinction from large part if it's former habitat.
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/clsm/research/invasive_species/invasive.htm#italy
saluki
