Dear Editor

I would like to draw your readers’ attention to the government’s withdrawal, in December 2019, of licenses which allowed Wildlife Rescue Centres to release back into the wild, orphaned or treated grey squirrels. This took away these animals’ only lifeline. The alternatives now are euthanasia or lifetime imprisonment for about 700 squirrels a year.

Grey squirrels do not fight or kill red squirrels. They are simply more successful than reds at surviving fast changing environments and climate change.

The fact that they were introduced from abroad 150 years ago should not make them unwelcome in this country. They have adapted well to living in Britain. Culling does not work for them anymore than it does for other species of wild animals as they can easily replace themselves.

One of the main reason reds are in short supply is that, in the last two centuries, they were hunted on a massive scale as pests by guess who? –humans! Now our species has turned on greys in the same way.

I have to ask the question all wildlife lovers ask – what is wrong with our species? Why do we have to control other species or treat them as aliens when they do very little harm to us? This action towards grey squirrels is animal racism of the sort which is being applied to muntjac deer in the Forest and which has nearly exterminated the ruddy duck in Britain. Human beings need to be more compassionate and curb their need to control everything for no reason but prejudice and mythology.

Joyce Moss

Forest of Dean