It now seems that on an almost weekly basis there are reports of members of the public taking red squirrels dying from the virus to the vets to be put out of their misery.
Rescue Programme
Image courtesy of Sarah McNeill
It now seems that on an almost weekly basis there are reports of members of the public taking red squirrels dying from the virus to the vets to be put out of their misery. There is no doubt that red squirrels will become extinct in England in the very near future if things continue as they have done for the last 150 years but there is also an achievable, alternative scenario whereby the red squirrels can start to thrive once again even at this late hour.
Image courtesy of Sarah McNeill
All that is needed for the red squirrels to survive is for a realistically funded Rescue Programme to be implemented immediately by experts who not only know what they are talking about but, equally important, actually care about the welfare of these beautiful animals.
The Trust’s proposed initiative is multi-faceted but the three main strands are as follows:
First, it will immediately start to protect the remaining red squirrels by removing grey squirrels from those areas that still have red squirrels.
Second, it will develop a vaccine to protect the red squirrels from the deadly squirrelpox virus. Happily, it’s all excellent news on the vaccine front: A/ the Wildlife Ark Trust has already proved that it is possible to develop an effective vaccine that will protect the reds from the virus B/ the huge advances in vaccine development, especially since the emergence of COVID-19, mean that such a vaccine will be able to be developed in a relatively short period of time C/ the spectacular success that the rabies vaccine has had in the elimination of fox-mediated rabies from vast areas of Western and Central Europe has proved that such a vaccination programme works exceptionally well in a wildlife population D/ the possible delivery of vaccine baits by aircraft (as in the rabies programme) means that the vaccination process will be extremely quick E/ it is now thought that not only will the vaccine protect the reds from the disease but that it is also possible that grey squirrels with the virus that consume the baits will then be non-infectious.
Third, it will fund research into a humane, long-term, scientific solution to the grey squirrel problem which is likely to involve gene drive technology so that in future grey squirrels will start to produce only male young so that, over time, the greys themselves will help to reduce their own population in a non-lethal manner.
Finally, the Trust already has a world class team of scientists, conservationists, lawyers and media personalities lined up to turbocharge this crucial conservation project meaning that results will start to be seen very quickly.