The thin red line

ELEVEN thousand years ago a group of hunter-gatherers in America probably watched as a small group of mammoths shuffled off into a blizzard, not knowing that they were watching the curtain fall on what would become one of the world’s iconic species.

Then in Java, in the Eighties, a hunter, doubtless as impoverished as he was anonymous, saw the last Javan tiger die in his snare.

Joyce Kaiser’s place in history is a little less symbolic, but is more precisely defined. In November, 2005, a red squirrel ran across her path in Thorpe Bulmer Dene, in Hartlepool, and became the last to be seen in east Cleveland.

It’s a scenario that has played out across England and Wales in recent decades, as red squirrel populations have died out one after another.

The cause of their demise is squirrel pox, a virus which produces symptoms similar to myxamatosis in rabbits.

The disease is carried by the introduced grey squirrels, although they themselves are immune to it. Britain, where the disease is passed to the native red squirrels, is the only place in the world where squirrel pox has been recorded as causing these devastating effects.

There are really only two options if reds aren’t to disappear completely from these isles: get rid of the greys or keep the reds away from them. The problem with option A is that with grey squirrels, the more you take them out, the faster they seem to come back. Getting rid of grey squirrels completely from Britain just isn’t practical in any reasonable timescale. It’s also unlikely to get the popular vote as greys thrive in urban environments and are now the squirrel that most people are familiar with.

That only leaves the option of keeping the two species apart by whatever means possible.

The national strategy for conserving red squirrels in England aims to do this at a landscape scale. This strategy, being implemented by the Save Our Squirrels (SOS) project based with Northumberland Wildlife Trust, revolves around the selection of 16 core areas in Northumberland and Cumbria where red squirrels are still relatively numerous. A 17th reserve has just been declared in Greenfield Forest, in the Yorkshire Dales.

The reserves are all substantial blocks of conifer woods chosen on the premise that these are fine for reds, but not so good for greys. It’s the only habitat in which reds have the upper hand. But a single grey squirrel entering these areas could spread squirrel pox to the reds so the strategy also involves creating cordons of grey squirrel no-go areas around the reserves.

From a calculated, scientific viewpoint, the strategy makes perfect sense. These are the only places where reds are likely to survive in the long term. However, there are only nine such reserves in Northumberland and none in Durham.

Outside these reserves, there are still quite a few other places across the North-East, mostly in Northumberland, where reds can be found.

These tiny pockets have inspired a home guard of volunteers, dedicated to the cause. At the forefront, although as unlike Captain Mainwaring as you could imagine, is Sally Hardy, the enthusiastic co-ordinator of Northern Red Squirrels.

Set up about a year ago, this acts as an umbrella group for the many small groups working away on their own patch to further the cause of red squirrels. There are 45 groups in total spread across Northumberland and Cumbria.

Each is totally independent as each place has different local issues to address. What they have in common is a determination to see red squirrels preserved and a commitment to share ideas and resources.

Veronica Carnell is the voluntary warden of the only urban population of red squirrels left in England, somewhere in the Newcastle area.

Its exact location must be kept secret.

She’s taken a very measured approach to separating reds from greys. In fact, the measurement in question is 42mm by 40mm precisely, the width of the mesh on cages she’s designed to keep grey squirrels away from squirrel feeders but still allow the smaller reds through.

While squirrel feeders have been available for some time that can only be opened by reds, there’s still the problem that greys will clamber all over the feeders, potentially leaving traces of the squirrel pox virus or just chasing the reds away.

Ever since I was a boy back in the Sixties, I have been reading dire warnings from conservationists that unless humanity changes its ways then we will lose many species. I still hear the same message today, but that message is no longer strictly honest – we passed the deadline some time back. The issue now isn’t whether we will lose wildlife, but how much we will lose.

■ Ian Bond, from Darlington, works as an ecologist in the North-East and has twice been a semi-finalist in Radio 4’s Wildbrain quiz show HOW TO HELP If you see a red squirrel anywhere south of Scotland and north of the Isle of Wight please report it to Save Our Squirrels on 0845-347-9375 or through its website: saveoursquirrels.org Northern Red Squirrels has its own website: northernredsquirrels.co.uk or ring Sally Hardy on 07878-061880.