MP calls for mass squirrel cull

Not enough is being done to back a mass cull of grey squirrels aimed at saving the red squirrel population, according to Conservative MP David MacLean.

The reds are in drastic decline, and Mr MacLean, an MP in Cumbria, wants a pilot scheme run in Northumberland rolled out across the UK.

The scheme saw 17,000 greys destroyed, and supporters say this has led to a revival for the smaller red squirrels.

The RSPCA has said it questions whether culling is a long-term solution.

Shooting

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Redesdale has been overseeing the scheme in Northumberland, and says he has almost rid the area of the grey squirrel.

This has been achieved with a government grant of just under £150,000, a professional trapper and 300 volunteers.

By trapping the greys and then shooting them, Lord Redesdale said he was recreating space for the native red squirrels.

But Andrew Tyler, the director of Animal Aid, told Five Live the project was "absurd".

"It's hateful and bigoted," he said.

"The reason the red squirrel is endangered in terms of its population is because it is being persecuted by people.

"Up until the 1950s people killed them by the hundreds of thousands because they were considered pests, just like the grey."

There are only 140,000 red squirrels in the country, in comparison with 2.5m greys. It is believed that the greys have thrived because of their greater ability to compete for food.

Mr MacLean has accused the government of not providing a "small investment" which he says could see, in the long-term, a native British species to thrive again.