A VIRUS could be helping grey squirrels crush Europe’s population of native red squirrels. When the greys were introduced into Europe from North America in the 19th century, they started to oust reds from their habitats. But Daniel Tompkins at the University of Stirling says a virus called parapoxvirus may have helped the grey squirrels.
He infected red and grey squirrels with virus taken from reds found dead in the wild. The greys became carriers of the virus but remained healthy, while in red squirrels the virus caused rapid weight loss that would be fatal in the wild (Proceedings of…
