Shuttleworth Craig M, Everest David, Holmes Paul, Bell Suzi, Cripps Rachel
School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK.
APHA Weybridge, Addlestone KT15 3NB, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jan 1;12(1):99. doi: 10.3390/ani12010099.
Native red squirrels () persisted in the coastal mainland woodlands of northern Gwynedd whilst sympatric with an invasive grey squirrel () population suppressed by culling. Squirrelpox disease in the red squirrel population was recorded in 2017 and 2020/21. An autumn 2020 outbreak was associated with only 17.4% of animals caught and marked in the preceding June known to be present in March 2021. Despite an opportunistic data collection lacking the rigour of empirical experimental design, we observed low local survival rates similar to previously published accounts reported during major squirrelpox outbreaks. The use of a conservation dog to detect red squirrel carcasses resulted in positive detection and confirmation of a temporal and spatial expansion of one disease outbreak. The study is the first in Wales to use conservation dogs and the findings reinforce the vital strategic importance of geographical isolation reducing sympatry of red with grey squirrels in European regions where the introduced congener is a source of the squirrelpox infection.
本土红松鼠（）在格温内德北部沿海大陆林地中生存，同时与通过捕杀来控制数量的入侵灰松鼠（）种群共存。2017年以及2020/21年记录到红松鼠种群感染松鼠痘病。2020年秋季的一次疫情爆发中，在2021年3月已知存在的动物中，仅17.4%是前一年6月捕获并标记的。尽管我们的机会性数据收集缺乏实证实验设计的严谨性，但我们观察到当地的低存活率，这与之前发表的关于松鼠痘病大爆发期间的记录相似。使用一只保护犬来检测红松鼠尸体，结果呈阳性，证实了一次疾病爆发在时间和空间上的扩展。这项研究是威尔士首次使用保护犬，研究结果强化了地理隔离在减少欧洲地区红松鼠与灰松鼠共存方面的至关重要的战略意义，在这些地区，引入的同类物种是松鼠痘感染的源头。
