Red squirrels may be wiped out by Squirrel Pox in Anglesey

Red squirrels could be almost wiped out in one of their last British strongholds by the deadly squirrel pox virus. Squirrel pox, carried by invasive grey squirrels, has helped destroy 95 per cent of native reds in England and Wales since 1952. But it had never been seen on Anglesey, Wales, raising fears after a dead red squirrel with facial lesions typical of the disease was found on Wednesday SQUIRREL POX Between 40 and 60 per cent of grey squirrels in the UK carry squirrel pox. Squirrel pox is partly to blame for a population explosion of more than three million grey squirrels in the UK, while just 30,000 of their red cousins remain in England, 120,000 in Scotland and around 1,500 in Wales Fears for the Anglesey population began when a squirrel was found dead in Treborth Gardens, Bangor, just half a mile from Anglesey. The Anglesey squirrel pox fears follow a confirmed case of the disease just half a mile away in north Wales, raising fears the virus has crossed from the mainland Holly Peek, a ranger for Red Squirrel Trust Wales, said: 'If it is pox, the chances are it has spread from Treborth as the squirrels can travel back and forth from the mainland.'