| In a major rewilding effort The Red Squirrel Trust, Bangor University, Welsh Mountain Zoo and Wildwood Trust have been working together on reintroducing Red Squirrels to Anglesey and expanding their range back to the mainland. Wildwood Trust has been successfully breeding Red Squirrels for over 14 years, and visitors to the popular Canterbury based wildlife charity have been thrilled to see the antics of the new baby Red Squirrels this month; an animal which is normally reclusive during the rest of the year. Reversing 100 years of extinction is one of the main charitable goals of Wildwood Trust and the new babies are great news for the future. Once grown up, the squirrels will be sent to the Welsh Mountain Zoo before reintroduction by Red Squirrels Trust Wales and Bangor University staff, enabling them to live wild and free, helping form a buffer population to safeguard the species against national extinction. Red squirrels went extinct in Kent in the 1960’s, but many can still remember them from their childhood when Kent once teemed with these beautiful acrobats of the trees!
Peter Smith, Wildwood Trust’s Chief Executive said: “Red squirrels are one of the most beautiful animals in the U.K. and visitors can watch these playful animals over the summer until they have grown up enough to be released to the wild. If we can help restore areas of woodland to a native state, reintroduce animals like Pine Martens to control invasive Grey Squirrels, we might just be able to tip the balance back in the Red Squirrel’s favour. Our eventual plan is to once again see them back across Southern Britain, including Kent. |