The red zone: Attitudes towards squirrels and their management where it matters most

Abstract Invasive alien species (IAS) such as the UK's grey squirrel pose a threat to native species and wider ecosystems. The grey's presence has caused the UK's native red squirrel to become extirpated from many areas, while in others they survive in isolated enclaves vulnerable to incursion. Given limited resources, the red squirrels' survival depends on local communities being informed, supportive of and involved in management efforts. To this end, targeted outreach has been delivered. Using survey responses, we compare awareness of squirrels and their management, values ascribed to squirrels, and acceptability of grey squirrel controls in red squirrel areas receiving outreach (n = 1000) with corresponding responses from a UK-wide sample (n = 3758). Additionally, we explore levels of involvement in squirrel management by those in red squirrel areas, as well as related motivations and barriers. We find that those in red squirrel areas are significantly more knowledgeable about squirrels and their management, value reds significantly more, and consider grey squirrel controls to be significantly more acceptable relative to the wider population. Despite high awareness and interest in participating in management, time constraints, perceived lack of skills and lack of awareness about how to become involved means few currently partake. Outreach for IAS management should seek to address these barriers by promoting the wide range of volunteer roles and ensuring suitable training is available. It should also involve espousal of a range of benefits related to motivations, including physical, mental and social benefits.