People across Scotland are being asked to report sightings of squirrels next week as part of a national scheme to protect the native red species.
The “Great Scottish Squirrel Survey” is a nationwide citizen science campaign organised by the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) partnership. Now in its sixth year, organisers of the event – running this year from Monday September 30 to Sunday October 6 – say recorded sightings are “more important than ever” as they battle to halt red squirrel declines.
SSRS, a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), has been working since 2009 to protect red squirrels in Scotland, the UK’s last remaining stronghold for the native species with around 75 per cent of the population. Once widespread throughout the country, in recent decades red squirrel populations have fallen significantly.
It’s largely due to the spread of non-native grey squirrels, which out-compete reds for food and living space and can also carry squirrelpox, a virus that doesn’t harm them but is fatal to reds. Grey squirrels were first introduced to the UK from North America by the Victorians and have since displaced reds in most of England and Wales.
This year, red and grey squirrels have both appeared in unexpected places in Scotland, while the first death in Fife of a red squirrel due to squirrelpox has also been recorded.
Nicole Still, SSRS’ Programme Manager, said: “Red and grey squirrels have turned up in some very unusual places in 2024 – from reds in urban areas such as Bishopbriggs, the first in Glasgow in many decades – to greys further north than we would normally expect. Alongside this we had our first confirmed death in the Central Lowlands of a red squirrel from squirrelpox earlier in the year.
“As such it’s more important than ever that we gather as many public squirrel sightings as possible. Reporting a sighting is a simple thing anyone can do to help. By being our eyes on the ground the public can make an invaluable contribution towards critical Scottish nature conservation efforts.
“Last year over 1300 people reported almost 2000 squirrel sightings in just one week. Let’s make this year’s survey even greater.”
Squirrels spotted anywhere in the country, from back gardens to local parks and woodlands, or even busy urban areas, can be reported to SSRS via scottishsquirrels.org.uk/squirrel-sightings.
These directly inform conservation action on the ground by helping staff, volunteers and partners understand how the distribution of each species is changing over time, where efforts should be prioritised and alerting the project to situations where grey squirrels are posing an immediate threat.
SSRS is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with NatureScot, Scottish Forestry, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Land & Estates, Forestry and Land Scotland, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority and Aberdeen City Council. It is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, along with the project partners.
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