By Freya Johns

Conservationists have expressed concerns for red squirrels in Mid Wales as the population balances on a tipping point. 

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales says there are only three remaining red squirrel populations in the country - one of which sits in the south of the Cambrian Mountains - to the east of Tregaron and Lampeter.

Red Squirrel Appreciation Day is on Saturday, 21 January and unites British wildlife organisations in their objective to protect dwindling populations of the endangered species.

The trust says they have been native in Mid Wales since the last Ice Age – and are now the only red squirrels in Wales to survive without re-releases.

The ancestral population has shrunk to the few hundred which remain now – which had been the dominant species until as recently as 1945.

Experts estimate their population to be between 100 and 300 squirrels. The tipping point is 250.

The minimum size of a red squirrel population necessary for their survival is thought to be around 250 - a stark reminder of how close we are to losing this 'precious species' in Mid Wales. 

Red Squirrel Officer Sarah Purdon expresses concern that ‘we don’t know what side of the line we’re on.’

The trust says the dramatic decrease is due to two main factors: grey squirrels outcompeting the reds and squirrelpox.  

It is a disease carried by grey squirrels which does not affect them but is fatal to reds - causing the population to die out around 20 times quicker than usual once infected.

Grey squirrel vaccinations are a popular approach to combat this issue but, with a national population of 2.5 million grey squirrels in the UK, it is unlikely to have any significant impact, experts say.

Grey squirrels are the invasive non-native cousin of the red squirrel - bigger, stronger, and capable of living at much higher density.

They have pushed reds into forestry which is a habitat not conducive for the survival of grey squirrels.

Red squirrels have found refuge among invasive, non-native Sitka spruce trees – which provides little sustenance to support a population of almost any species. 

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, in partnership with other organisations, is undertaking a Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project in an attempt to save the species.

Project Officer Sarah Purdon says: “We have history here in Mid Wales of bringing important species back from the brink. Conservation success stories like the red kite and pine marten give me hope, but we must act now if we want to preserve our unique Welsh red squirrels.  

“We cannot save them without action, if you do one thing for red squirrels, consider squirrel-proofing your bird feeders.

“Every free meal the grey squirrels raid from your gardens boosts their population a little further and is another nail in the coffin for the reds.”