Red squirrels born at zoo

FOUR red squirrels have been born at Walton Hall Gardens Children’s Zoo, the rangers at the zoo have announced.
The births bring the total number of squirrels bred at the zoo to 36.
A spokesperson said: “The mother of the squirrels was bred at Walton Hall Gardens, and this is her first time as a mum – so far she is very protective of her kittens and tell off the rangers if they get too close! Their dad arrived at the zoo this year from Wildwood in Kent, it is also his first time as a parent.”
The young squirrels are now five weeks old – they do not leave the nest box before four weeks of age and are now clumsily exploring their enclosure. They will remain at the zoo until they reach thirteen weeks old, at this point they will have to be separated from their parents as the adults will try and chase them away, in the wild they would be chased out of their parents home territory to start their adult lives.
The rangers will keep some of the squirrels and match-make them with other squirrels already the zoo, and some will move to new homes, either at other captive breeding programmes or be release back into the wild, so far five of our squirrels have been released into the red squirrel conservation area on Anglesey in Wales.
The Red Squirrel breeding programme was set up in spring 2006 with the help of funding from WREN and the Waste-recycling group. At present it houses 4 adult squirrels.
Red squirrels were once common all over Britain, however since the grey squirrel was brought over from North America in 1876 red squirrel populations have declined dramatically. Red squirrels are still present in Scotland and the North Lake district, but even these populations are under threat with the grey squirrels slowly moving up the country.
Grey Squirrels can eat foods before they are ripe enough for the reds and they also carry the parapox virus, which is lethal to reds. Red squirrels can still be found in specially managed nature reserves around England and Wales.