Prince's red alert on red squirrels

Published on Friday 3 April 2009 21:30

RED squirrels could die out in the UK within ten years unless urgent steps are taken to help them, Prince Charles warned yesterday.

In a passionate speech in which he revealed his fondness for the animal, the Prince of Wales said the animal should become the UK's mascot.

He added that people should be deeply ashamed for causing the animal's plight.

Speaking at the launch of a new charity to help save the red squirrel, he said he enjoyed feeding the creatures when he stayed at Birkhall in Aberdeenshire.

"Unlike many people in this country I am very lucky to see red squirrels regularly in Scotland at Birkhall, where I have been indulging them with hazelnuts, and they are becoming remarkably tame," he said.

"Sometimes when I am sitting at my desk, I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and sometimes they do a 'wall of death' (running] around my office."

And he described how he had a topiary tree fashioned into the shape of one of the rodents at Highgrove, Gloucestershire.

He highlighted the plight of the "utterly charming" red squirrel under continuous attack from the "pernicious" grey.

"The terrifying reality is that within a decade, if we cannot work together to bring in the necessary funding for the task which needs to be done, the red squirrel could be extinct right across the United Kingdom," he said.

Prince Charles, launching the Red Squirrel Survival Trust during a visit to Levens Hall, Cumbria, urged cross-Border action to help the species.

He said: "Today, I hope, will be the beginning of the co-ordinated fight-back on behalf of our precious and very British red squirrel, in the face of the relentless march across the country of the pernicious greys."

He highlighted that the greys were driving the reds to extinction, not just because they are larger and more aggressive, but because they spread squirrel pox. Grey squirrels, originally from America, are immune to the disease, but it kills the reds in a matter of weeks.

Prince Charles also highlighted the plight of the British honey bee during his speech, and warned it could also be extinct within ten years.

He added: "To me, the plight of the red squirrel and, yes, the honey bee too, is yet another example of man's short-sightedness in an increasingly throwaway society.

"And, as stewards of this Earth, we should all feel deeply ashamed of it."

Scotland is home to about 75 per cent of the UK's remaining red squirrels.