Wildlife enthusiasts are being urged to report sightings of one of Britain’s most endangered animals using satellite-tracking services on their smartphones.
The Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) groups hopes that by logging precise GPS coordinates it will be able to build a clearer picture of exactly where the evasive woodland creatures are hiding.
Supporters are also being encouraged to send sightings of the reds’ invasive grey cousins to the SSRS website.
Originally native to North America, grey squirrels were first introduced to Britain in the 1870s.
Since then, the red squirrel population has been wiped out across much of the UK, largely due to the increase in competition for food and the spread of disease.
Since 1952, 95% of the red squirrels in England and Wales have disappeared and today 75% of the UK’s remaining population is found north of the border.
The SSRS, part of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, is aiming to reverse the decline by educating the public. Its new website, www.scottishsquirrels.org.uk, features blogs, videos and all the latest updates from the project.
Mel Tonkin, project manager for Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, said: “Red Squirrels are an iconic Scottish species that the public loves.
“This new website will allow people to learn more about red squirrels, the project itself and more of what happens behind the scenes.
“The update to the squirrel reporting feature is a great step forward. Since the start of our online recording page in 2010, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has received around 10,000 reports of red and grey squirrels. These are vital in enabling the project to monitor changes in squirrel distributions over a much wider area than we can cover ourselves.
“There are always gaps in our records, so to create the most accurate picture of squirrel populations we need many more. I would urge people to continue to report squirrels in each new area they encounter each year. The update is very user-friendly and means sightings can be recorded as soon as someone spots a red or grey squirrel.”
Supporters are being encouraged to bookmark www.scottishsquirrels.org.uk/squirrel-sightings on their mobiles.