Research to develop 'pill' for grey squirrels among efforts to control species
The measures form part of a wider plan to protect woodlands and native red squirrels
The Government is supporting research to develop "the pill" for grey squirrels to curb the damage the rodents do to woodlands and their native red cousins.
Officials also said they would be monitoring populations of reintroduced pine martens, which hunt squirrels, particularly in Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean, to see if they can reduce grey squirrel populations as they have done in Ireland and Scotland.
And landowners are being asked to take action to reduce the impact of grey squirrels in their woodlands, with grants for new equipment such as traps, and are being encouraged to use well-trained, competent volunteers who lead much of the work in managing the non-native species.
The measures are part of the Government's updated policy on managing the impact of grey squirrels, whose numbers have increased to about 2.7 million across Great Britain since the species was introduced from North America in the 19th century.
Grey squirrels out-compete native red squirrels for food and transmit the squirrel pox virus which is fatal to reds but rarely to greys, with the native species' population tumbling to just 38,900 and pushed to the fringes of England.
Grey squirrels also damage woodlands by stripping bark from trees, with the economic cost of damage - not including impacts on nature - estimated at £37 million a year in England and Wales, officials said.
In an update to a 2014 grey squirrel action plan, the Government said it would be taking action over the next five years including encouraging landowners to take steps to control the animals with financial incentives and advice, and providing support for training in grey squirrel management.
The Environment Department (Defra) also said that with current control methods often labelled "ineffective" and amid public support for non-lethal control, it would continue to support research into developing an oral contraceptive delivered in a feeder that only grey squirrels could access.
Pine martens, once common in English woodlands but which have largely vanished due to habitat loss and persecution, can also reduce the numbers of grey squirrels, officials said.
So government agency Forestry England will continue to monitor pine marten populations in forests, and their effect on grey squirrels, in particular following the Forest of Dean reintroduction project, where 35 pine martens were reintroduced between 2019 and 2021.
Heather Harris, Red Squirrel Recovery Network (RSRN) communications officer, at The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & Merseyside, said: "The Government's new squirrel strategy rightly acknowledges grey squirrels as a widespread non-native species, posing a serious threat to red squirrels and the health of woodland ecosystems.
"Red squirrels have now almost disappeared from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and are under serious pressure in Scotland. Without sustained and effective grey squirrel management, red squirrels could disappear from UK woodlands in 10 years.
"The priority now must be translating policy into co-ordinated, long-term action on the ground."
And she said:" The RSRN supports research led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and funded by the UK Squirrel Accord and its supporters, into non-lethal fertility control.
"This work remains in the research and development phase, where we will support landscape-scale trials of the feeder mechanisms to assess safety, effectiveness and practicality."