The Red squirrel fight back against greys has begun, claim conservationists.

The death of the red squirrel may have been greatly exaggerated claims a charity headed by the Prince of Wales that believes the native species is fighting back at last.

The red squirrel, which has lived in the British Isles since the Ice Age, has been in inexorable decline for just over a century ever since the introduction of its grey American cousins which not only eat the same food but spread a fatal pox to the native population.

The much smaller, more timid, red has retreated to Scotland and a few pockets of the north of England, and it had been thought that one of these last colonies – in Merseyside – had finally succumbed after an outbreak of disease.

But despite numbers shrinking from 1,000 to around 150, The Red Squirrel Survival Trust (RSST) has been surprised at the speed at which the Formby reds, which live near the coast just north of Liverpool, are fighting back thanks to the help of locals.

Now they believe that survival could be the beginning of a comeback for the rest of the country.
Joshua Perry, the RSST director, said many feared that red squirrel numbers may have declined to a point where they could no longer naturally repopulate.

Thankfully, 2009 has seen the tide turn, he said. There has not been a single squirrelpox case recorded since December 2008 and the areas first affected by the disease have begun to be recolonised.

"We believe that with sustained grey squirrel control, there is every chance that red squirrel numbers in the district can recover," he said. "This adds further weight to the argument that red squirrel populations can flourish when given the right support. After several years of doom and gloom, finally the county's reds are fighting back."

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/5796466/The-Red-squirrel-fight-back-against-greys-has-begun-claim-conservationists..html