Castle Howard Arboretum: ​Cinnamon the squirrel joins red revival

While Cinnamon, a six-month-old red squirrel, quietly settles into her new home at Castle Howard, those behind an ambition which could see the much-loved threatened creatures released across the vast estate say her arrival heralds a key milestone.

The young female has arrived in the stately home’s arboretum, a one-acre designated enclosure for the arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodents, joining publicly-named two-year-old red squirrel David Attenborough.

Some 15 kits have been born in the 2,500sq m enclosure featuring a grove oaks and other trees, and have gone on to partner breeding programmes or been released into the wild at suitable locations in Wales.

A key seed disperser for native trees such as Scots pine, red squirrels play a vital role in regenerating coniferous woodlands.

Quite how many remain in England is unclear.

The Woodland Trust has the figure at 39,000, while the Save Our Reds campaign believes as few a 15,000 remain.

Among the few enclaves of red squirrels in Yorkshire in recent years includes Mirk Pot Woods, near Snaizeholme, in Wensleydale, leading the creatures to be seen in gardens in nearby Hawes.

However, Ben Paterson, arborist and red squirrel officer at the Castle Howard Arboretum Trust, said before the enclosure launched the last red squirrel recorded on the estate was in the mid-1960s and that was largely due to invasive grey squirrels.

Ben said: “If we have grey squirrels we don’t have healthy trees or red squirrels. It really is that simple.

“Unfortunately grey squirrels, brought over from North America in 1876 as an ornamental species, are much more resilient than red squirrels.

“Peacocks were brought in as an ornamental species and on every stately home but don’t seem to have caused problems.”

He said not only did grey squirrels damage trees by stripping the bark from the main stems and upper branches, disrupting water and nutrient flow and weakening the canopy, and the eggs of song birds, they also carried the squirrel pox virus.

Passed through fluids or contact at shared feeding sites, among red squirrels the virus causes ulcers, lesions and warts, reducing the ability to feed and see, leading to slow, painful deaths.

Classed as a non-native invasive species, grey squirrel numbers are managed through humane shooting and trapping.

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it remains an offence to introduce a species to harm, so the estate does not run the risk of the two types of squirrel coming into contact with each other.

Landscape scale initiatives to tackle the issue include a red squirel vaccine, the development of a grey squirrel contraceptive and a gene drive to introduce grey quirrels that only produce male offspring.

Ben said as part of the conservation project the estate was working with the Red Squirrel Studbook, a managed directory tracking the parentage, pedigree, and genetic diversity of captive red squirrels.

He said: "It’s not just a simple case of going to find a red squirrel hoping they get on. There are all sorts of tests, genetic matches, family trees that have to be taken into account.

"With the Studbook we work on ideals. We want as much diversity as we can in the captive population.

"We don’t want to introduce in-bred red squirrels into captivity or the wild. It helps everybody out in the long run.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of autumn than by welcoming a new friend for David to the enclosure, she will bring much joy to our staff, volunteers and visitors.

“It’s been something we’ve been working towards all year. During our first few years of working with the project we’ve managed to breed 18 red squirrel kits.

"Red squirrels come into maturity in their first spring, but their first year is normally quiet in terms of kits.

"Any kits would be fantastic, but I am expecting three or four. When they are fully mature they can have three litters a year of up to six per litter.

"Working with the Studbook part of the challenge is having to catch and identify all of these offspring. So there’s a nice balance between having the youngsters and then being able to catch, identify and ultimately rehome them.

"Currently there are too many grey squirrels around the estate to comfortably release red squirrels.

"It’s a long-term plan and what we all want to see, but a lot of work needs to happen before that.”