Interactive Red Squirrel Decline Map
Watch 150 years of decline unfold across Britain in real time.
Save Our Reds Campaign
Drag the slider.
Watch a species disappear.
We are losing them. We know what happens next.
Once widespread across the UK – now confined to pockets.
Then
~3.5 million
red squirrels across the UK in 1876. Common in woods and gardens nationwide.
Now
120,000-290,000
red squirrels remain today, estimates vary. Around 2.7 million non-native greys.
120-290k
reds in UK
15k
reds in England
2.7m
non-native greys
This simple interactive map shows the long-term decline of red squirrels – and what happens if nothing changes.
It is stark. It is the truth.
Once counted in their millions, red squirrels now number somewhere in the region of 120,000 to 290,000 across Britain, estimates vary, with around three-quarters of those in Scotland. In England the picture is far starker: Natural England’s modelling puts the population as low as around 15,000.
Meanwhile, there are an estimated 2.7 million grey squirrels.
Red squirrels are classified as Endangered on Britain’s Red List for Terrestrial Mammals.
Greys outcompete reds and carry squirrelpox, which is fatal to reds. Habitat loss continues alongside.
This is not theoretical.
Without action, we will lose our red squirrels.
‘I cannot think of a better mascot for our country than the red squirrel.’
His Majesty King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, speaking at Levens Hall, Cumbria. The King is Patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.
What Needs to Happen
We need a joined-up national plan:
1
Properly funded rangers on the ground
2
Humane management of grey squirrels
3
Urgent investment in a squirrelpox vaccine
4
Protection and enforcement of habitat
At the moment, these efforts are fragmented.
‘Otherwise, we are simply managing decline.’
Marie Carter-Robb, Founder, Save Our Reds campaign
⚔️Competition
Grey squirrels are larger, more robust, and can digest acorns before they ripen – a food source red squirrels cannot access. They outcompete reds for food and territory, preventing breeding.
🦠Disease
Grey squirrels carry squirrelpox virus (SQPV), to which they are immune. For red squirrels, it is almost always fatal – causing populations to decline 17-25 times faster than competition alone.
🌲Habitat Pressure
Loss and fragmentation of woodland has reduced the connected habitat red squirrels need to survive. Isolated populations cannot sustain themselves or recolonise former ranges.
🐿️Conservation Rangers
Organisations including Red Squirrels Northern England, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, and Ulster Wildlife run ranger and volunteer programmes. They monitor populations, control grey expansion, and protect remaining strongholds across Cumbria, Northumberland, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
💉Squirrelpox Vaccine
Researchers at Bangor University (Bradwell, Benson and Shuttleworth) have reported a promising squirrelpox vaccine for red squirrels. An earlier programme lapsed for lack of funding, and sustained investment is now needed to move from laboratory success to protection in the field – a gap our campaign is pushing to close.
🌱Fertility Control Research
APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) is developing an oral contraceptive for grey squirrels as a humane, long-term alternative to culling. Trials are underway but the work needs sustained investment to reach deployment.
🌳Strongholds
Kielder Forest holds around half of England’s reds. The Isle of Wight (~3,500), Anglesey (~800, grey-free since 2012) and Brownsea Island (~200) are protected island populations. The Isle of Arran is the only place in the UK with no grey squirrels at all. On Mersea Island in Essex, 29 reds released between 2012 and 2015 have grown to around 100, the only wild red population in south-east England. The Scottish Highlands north of the Fault Line remain grey-free.
Help protect what remains.
Over 85,000 people have already backed the Save Our Reds campaign.
If you care about the future of this species, please sign and share.
This visualisation is based on published distribution data and conservation records, including:
How to read this map. Regions are shown at national scale, not as a field survey. “Both species” means red squirrels persist somewhere within that region, not throughout it. Reds are absent from most urban and lowland areas within mixed regions, including Scotland’s Central Belt, where they are no longer present. Marked points show named populations too small to appear as regions at this scale: the Isle of Arran, Anglesey, Clocaenog Forest, mid Wales, the Yorkshire Dales at Snaizeholme, the Isle of Wight, Brownsea Island and Mersea Island. Formby and the Sefton coast sit within North West England. Mersea Island appears from 2022, following the reintroduction that began in 2012. Squirrels are absent altogether from Orkney, Shetland and most of the Outer Hebrides; these islands are drawn within the Highlands region and their colour should not be read as a squirrel record.
People’s Trust for Endangered Species
Red Squirrels Northern England
Population figures from The Mammal Society (2018), UK Squirrel Accord, PTES, and Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels. Britain’s red squirrel population has fallen from an estimated 3.5 million to somewhere in the region of 120,000 to 290,000 today, estimates vary, with around three-quarters in Scotland. Grey squirrel population ~2.7 million. Scotland’s Highland Boundary Fault Line forms a key division: no grey squirrels exist north of this line. Map data: Natural Earth (10m), Open Government Licence.
Grey squirrels were first introduced to Henbury Park, Cheshire in 1876. Around 30 documented releases occurred between 1876-1930. Key sites: Woburn Park (1890), Richmond Park (1902), Regent’s Park (1905-07). Squirrelpox causes red squirrel decline 17-25x faster than competition alone (RSNE/APHA).
Drag the timeline from 1876 to today and watch red squirrel range collapse, decade by decade, until only the northern strongholds remain. Red shows where reds survive. Grey shows where they've been lost.
As featured in national coverage of the Save Our Reds campaign.
The map is free to share and embed. Please credit: Save Our Reds CIC.
Journalists, educators and campaigners: hello@saveourreds.uk
Red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) and grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are two distinct species. They are not different-coloured versions of the same animal. Greys, introduced to Britain from North America in the 1870s, outcompete reds for food and carry squirrelpox, a virus that is harmless to greys but fatal to reds. Without intervention, reds cannot survive alongside expanding grey populations.