Sir,
Most people are aware that the red squirrel has become virtually extinct in the southern half of the British Isles. It has been usurped by the grey, introduced from America at the end of the 19th century. Larger, more aggressive and occupying the same environment and eating the same food as the red, they have eliminated the red indigenous squirrel in most areas. The grey also carry a virus which is endemic to them but fatal for the red.
Several people have asked me recently about an idea I had a while ago about trying to get a sanctuary established on Caldey Island for red squirrels.
When the idea occurred to me, I wrote first to Iolo Williams, the well-known naturalist and television personality who has been in many programmes for BBC Wales and has been involved in the establishment of several projects. He telephoned me the next day and said what a splendid idea it was and that he thought he might be able to get some red squirrels from Anglesey. Unfortunately, he seems to have lost interest once he found that there was some opposition from the Cistercian community, the owners of the island.
From my understanding, their objections were, firstly, that the squirrels might damage the trees; in my opinion, any damage that they might do would be sustainable. Secondly, the monks wanted only flora and fauna natural to the island.
I believe that some time ago some research was done and the conclusion was reached that there was not enough natural food available to sustain a colony of wild red squirrels.
As far as I know, Wiltshire is not a natural habitat for lions, but with plenty of food provided, a large pride has thrived and become a great tourist attraction. At Longleat there are no zebra or wildebeest for the lions to feed on naturally so they are provided with food artificially. They seem to do well there.
With regard to the red squirrels, my idea was to build a temporary enclosure with feeding stations and artificial dreys until they became at home. Once established it could be dismantled and then it would be necessary only to provide food at a few feeding stations. That would be no problem during the summer, think of the sales to visitors, and, probably, not an onerous task if a volunteer on the island could be found.
There is no other island off Wales except Anglesey which has trees and is inhabited. Anglesey has a programme to eliminate grey squirrels, as does the Isle of Wight, but Anglesey is connected by the bridges to the mainland and so some occasionally get across.
The only other island in the south is Brownsea Island which has a thriving red squirrel population; this has become a real tourist attraction.
Recently there was a note in the Times regarding the importance HRH Prince Charles puts on the preservation of this species and how much he is in favour of efforts to help in this work.
I can only hope that some people closer to the monastic community than I, can persuade the Abbot to once again put this idea to his committee. The island and the pleasure boats would all benefit but, above all, it would do something of tremendous good for an endangered and delightful species.
Alun Morgan,
Tenby.