Hope for Scotland's red squirrels as researchers develop killer pox vaccine

A VACCINE to protect red squirrels against a deadly disease threatening to wipe them out in the UK is being developed in Scotland.

Scottish scientists say the inoculation could protect Scotland's native species from pox carried by their grey cousins.

The disease leaves the larger greys unharmed but the reds die within weeks of infection. A culling programme is already taking place in Scotland to try to kill the invading greys, which are originally from America.

However, if this does not work, a vaccine could provide a last hope for the native species.

Bob Wilkin, chairman of the Wildlife Ark Trust, the charity funding the research, said: "You just need one grey squirrel with the pox to get into a wood that holds red squirrels and it will wipe them out. At least if you can develop a vaccine then the reds will only be competing for food with the greys."

The vaccine would probably be administered to the squirrels in food, such as peanuts, which would be scattered around woods and forests.

The research is based at the Moredun Research Institute in Penicuik. It will be about two more years before the vaccine is developed, and three years of trials after that before it can be used in the wild.

But Dr Andy Peters, former director of research into vaccines for Pfizer Animal Health, said:

"It could be terrifically beneficial but we cannot predict yet whether it is going to work or not. Hopefully it is going to be successful."

Scotland is home to about 75 per cent of the remaining red squirrels in the UK. Grey squirrels were brought to the UK in the late 19th century. They grow to up to twice the size of the reds, and out-compete them for food and habitat.

However, the most significant factor in declining red squirrel numbers is the greys' deadly pox. Reds develop painful lesions which spread to their eyes and nose. Unable to see, they cannot feed and so starve to death.

Jerry Moss, a red squirrel ranger, said: "I've seen at first hand the awful pain red squirrels suffer when they get squirrel pox. No animal should have to endure that agony. It's vital that we develop a squirrel pox vaccine for the reds."

The Moredun Research Institute is a world leader in livestock vaccine development, as well as being a centre of expertise on squirrel pox.

The research work has attracted widespread support. Wildlife Ark Trust has already raised 320,000 for the research but needs another 88,000.

A European Squirrel Initiative spokesman said: "Preventing the spread of this disease will slow down the demise of the red squirrel and we endorse the Wildlife Ark Trust's efforts."

Dr Peter Lurz of Newcastle University, an expert on red squirrels, said: "Squirrel pox virus is one of the biggest threats to the survival of the red squirrel and a vaccine is a crucial step in trying to safeguard populations in Scotland."

And Advocates for Animals, which opposes the culling of grey squirrels, has called for a squirrel pox vaccine.

To donate visit www.wildlifearktrust.org