European Goshawks were extinct in Britain at the end of the 19th century (and remained rare for over half a century) but in the last 50 years have made an incredible comeback. In the new forest, in the south of England, there are thought to be hundreds of pairs living wild.
In Thetford forest in Norfolk, an estimated 52% of the goshawks diet was grey squirrel. While it is true that they will also take red squirrels, these are generally better at escaping. More importantly, it is thought that Goshawks could be used to stop the grey squirrels population from growing any further.
As I have written before, the pine marten is also important for the recovery of the red squirrel, as it is far more successful at hunting grey squirrels, and they generally do not cohabit in any part of the country.
This will likely not eliminate the direct need for grey squirrel population to be culled by humans, far from it, but may well help towards the idea of giving red squirrels breathing room.
There are many species around the world which are so important to their habitat, that even a reduction in the population can cause problems – this is one of them. After tadpoles have lost their tails, many will climb onto the hairy back of the water buffalo, getting a ride to other rich feeding areas (and the buffalo gets any irritating flies eaten). There can be as many as 20 frogs on each water buffalo.
Water buffalo were first domesticated 3000 years ago, in Asia, but have proved to be so useful, there are now 200 million spread across 77 countries, on 5 continents. Initially considered as useful animals for plough and similar farm work, in recent times, it has been recognized for its ecosystem engineer duties.
Thriving in wetlands, they can force their way through places that other herbivores fail. While they are not native to many of their current homes, they are capable of filling ecological niches that have long been empty after the initial large cattle like animals were killed off, or all taken into captivity. It should be noted, that in some places, like Australia, there are few to no predators, to control such a large animal, which has lead to a population of 200,000. There is a native water buffalo (Anatolian).
A variety of characteristics help this species to easily fill the ecological niche of the European water buffalo (lost around 10,000 years ago). From transporting seeds in their fur, they fill in many of the roles that the extinct European water buffalo did in the long past. Even in places like the UK, which is one of the most nature depleted countries, the water buffalo are replacing long extinct species, and recovering ecosystems as a result.
This sort of behaviour has to be carefully managed, as in many places, introducing a closely related species can be very costly. In the UK, the grey squirrel has decimated the population of the native red squirrel, and this is not an isolated example, with many others from around the world. However, so long as their effect is closely managed, and there is not a closer relation to the missing species, the impact is likely to be a net positive. Over the last 50 years, 1/3 of the worlds wetlands have been lost, these species, when carefully managed, are likely to be able to bring some of this back.
Before humans started cutting down the forests of the UK, the pine marten was likely one of the most common carnivores in the UK. This voracious arboreal hunter is the reason that our resident squirrel is so acrobatic – these skills would likely be tested every day.
Indeed, pine martens are less widely spread in the USA which is likely one of the reasons that grey squirrels are so incapable of surviving alongside pine martens. Thus, in the UK we have this perverse situation within the UK, where the only refuge of the red squirrel (apart from small islands which can be cleared more easily) are areas of the country where pine martens also survive on.
Is the day coming where a walking
In the UK, it has been long known that pine martens survive in Scotland. Protection of their forests must improve if we are to hold onto them for longer.
For years it has been assumed that it is a mixture of these two reasons that red squirrels survive but perhaps not
Food sources in conifer plantations tend to be smaller, limited to small cones and such like. As such, this suited the smaller red squirrel more than the invasive grey. However this has recently been thrown into doubt.
Where as, in broadleaf tree plantations there are a variety of food sources for pine martens and so red squirrels will not be exclusively predated, in conifer forests with less food to find red squirrels are hunted more often.
This research is based on 5 years of observations from the public and camera traps. It was carried out in northern Ireland, and looked at pine martens red and grey squirrels.
In natural woodlands there is a diverse range of prey and plenty of refuges for red squirrels, however in conifer plantations pine martens will eat far more squirrels because there is little else for it to find.
We therefore need to stop replacing large areas of natural wood with plantations.
If this is true, then the pine marten has even more pressure on it, as it must drive the grey squirrel out so reds can survive. A recent study of grey squirrels dna shows that the UK population relies far more on humans. Far from colonising the country they appear to have been moved by humans and installed in new parts of the country on many occasion. One example, showed this by the fact that the grey squirrels around Aberdeen appear to have originated with the population around the new forest.
There are few animals more loved than the native red squirrel, yet in the UK we have watched its gradual decline since the non-native grey introduction
At the moment, red squirrels still survive in reasonable numbers up in Scotland. It is not that grey squirrels out compete red ones, but that they carry an illness which kills red squirrels very fast.
The French Alps cover an area of 38,000 square km, or just over 15,000 square miles. As with many other European countries, France has not been happy to share its space with predators, and so all were exterminated by the the second world war
The French Alps border the Alps from many other country and has a result wildlife from the rest of the alps has been able to spread. Back in the 1995 some of the Italian wolves started migrating across the border, On this occasion the wolves set up a territory and became established. Over the next 25 years the wolves have increased dramatically so that now there are between 500 and 600 living in the french alps. While they have been expanding far into France the core consisting of 50% of their population is still in the French Alps.
A view of the French Alps
There are no bears in the french alps, they still exist further south in Italy, as well as in the Dinarac alps that run from northern Italy, east and south into the Balkans down to Albania in the South East. It is therefore possible that they will return on their own in time, and given a young dispersing bear can cover large distances, it is always possible for them to return. The important thing is to remember that this is prime bear habitat, and that it is therefore highly likely that one day they will be back.
However, apart from the returning wolves there are now a few lynx that live wild within parts of the French Alps.There are other mountain ranges that lie close by which host more lynx, however I have listed them separately. While lynx tourism is a fantastic boost to the country, it should be noted that lynx are incredibly shy and so are not seen often. This shouldn’t detract from the interest though as their impact on the ecosystem is very clear. When walking in areas with animals like lynx, looking for signs of their presence can be a rewarding pass time – particularly with young children who are unlikely to have the patience to see the animal assuming it will appear anyway. Tracks and droppings are often not to hard to find.
Different parts of the French alps have different levels of human presence. If you are looking for wilderness, the Southern french alps are one of the wildest regions of western europe.
Chamois mouflon and marmots are common here as well as roe deer.
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The French Alps cover a large area, and the wildlife is pretty wide spread. Unfortunately often to see wild animals in their native habitat you need a mix of luck and patience with a little knowledge mixed in. As we make links these will appear below the news section below.
