SquirrelWeb

Recently, a project with European funding started in Italy with the principal aim of eliminating or managing the risks posed by the introduction of the alien grey squirrel from North America, and with particular respect to conserving the native red squirrel. Full details of the project can be found on the dedicated EC-SQUARE web site.

Goedele Verbeylen writes: “In August 2005 we found out about a park (size 5 ha) in Flanders where a population of alien squirrels is present for about 2 years now. They reproduce well (they estimate about 20-30 animals present now) and start to do serious damage to the trees (and also to an electric cable). [...]

M. Laura Guichón writes: “In 2003, I began studying the invasion dynamics of an alien mammal in Argentina: the Red-Bellied Beautiful Squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus). Less than five individuals of this arboreal species, native to South-east Asia, were liberated in the Pampas region, Argentina, in 1973. Initial questionnaire surveys have suggested that its distribution in this [...]

Clare Tattoni A recently discovered population of the North American grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), introduced to Ticino Park, Lombardy (N Italy), is likely to spread into continuous prealpine broadleaf forests of Lombardy and the south of Switzerland. The replacement of red by grey squirrels that is taking place in Piedmont, northern Italy, does not only [...]

by Peter Lurz Pallas’s Squirrel was introduced to Cap d’Antibes in the 1970s. The species is thought to occur at higher densities than the native red squirrel and causes damage to trees and crops in the area (Jouanin 1990, 1992). Measurements of specimens are reported as: tail: 163-193 mm, head and body length: 204-225 mm [...]

Goedele Verbeyen Investigation of the Asian Chipmunk (Eutamias sibiricus Laxmann 1769) in De Panne (Belgium) The Asian chipmunk is being imported in Belgium as a pet since the beginning of the sixties. Now there are four free-living populations in Belgium, one in the Zoniënwoud (Brussels, estimated at 18.000 individuals in 2000!), one in Westerlo, one [...]

Sandro Bertolino The grey squirrel in Italy: species expansion and threats for neighbouring countries Origin and spread of the grey squirrel in Italy The grey squirrel was introduced into Piedmont (north-western Italy) in 1948, when two pairs were released at Stupinigi (province of Turin) (Bertolino et al., 2000). In 1966, 5 animals imported from Norfolk [...]

“On November 26th, I and the director of my institute were condemned for illegal hunting and cruelty towards animals, for the trial eradication of the grey squirrel that I coordinated in Piedmont (north-west Italy) in 1997. This is the last step of a long story. The National Wildlife Institute, where I work as a researcher, [...]

by Sandro Bertolino The Finlayson’s squirrel Callosciurus finlaysoni is a species naturally present in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam. In 1998 a population of this species was found in a 2 ha park at Acqui Terme (44°40′N – 8°28′E, province of Alessandria, northwestern Italy). It took origin from two couples released 18 years [...]