An invasive type of squirrels is about to wipe out England’s native ref squirrels.
The grey squirrels, native to North America, were introduced to the UK at the end of the 19th and have been taking over in the past decades.
The larger, bolder invaders are quickly outcompeting the smaller native red squirrels.
Greys are better at foraging in broadleaf woodlands, consume more food including unripe items reds cannot eat, steal cached supplies and reproduce faster with larger litters.
They also carry squirrelpox virus, which is harmless to them but fatal to reds, causing populations to crash up to 25 times faster where the species overlap.
Red squirrels, once widespread, had faced some habitat loss from deforestation, but the grey invasion accelerated their decline dramatically.
Today, only small populations survive in parts of Scotland, Ireland, and a few isolated English sites, while greys number in the millions and dominate.