UK government backs birth control for grey squirrels

[Still Waters]

The UK government has given its support to a project to use oral contraceptives to control grey squirrel populations.

Environment minister Lord Goldsmith says the damage they and other invasive species do to the UK's woodlands costs the UK economy £1.8 billion a year.

The bizarre-sounding plan is to lure grey squirrels into feeding boxes only they can access with little pots containing hazelnut spread.

These would be spiked with an oral contraceptive.

It is estimated the UK is home to some three million of these invasive rodents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55817385

[Still Waters]

Scientists design contraceptives to limit grey squirrels

A plan to use oral contraceptives to control grey squirrel populations in the UK is making good progress and could soon be put to the test in field trials, say government scientists.

The mass birth control plan involves luring grey squirrels into feeding boxes only they can access, using pots containing hazelnut spread. These will be spiked with contraceptives.

The project could help eradicate the grey squirrel in the UK without killing them, says environment minister Lord Benyon.

It should reduce the "untold damage" grey squirrels do to woodland ecosystems and native red squirrel populations, he says.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62096272