Red squirrels face a new threat... leprosy
WILDLIFE experts are studying the threat of leprosy to red squirrels.
The threat of leprosy to red squirrels is being studied by wildlife experts
The project aims to find out how a form of the disease affects and is passed between them and how conservationists can control its spread.
Leprosy is now thought to have been in the red squirrel population for centuries.
Numbers of the animal have fallen drastically to around 140,000 in the UK, with most of the population in Scotland.
The main threats come from habitat loss and American grey squirrels, which out-compete their native cousins and spread "squirrelpox", fatal to reds.
Numbers of the animal have fallen drastically to around 140,000 in the UK
Red squirrels could disappear warn conservationists
The main threat to the squirrels are the American grey squirrel and habitat loss
Professor Anna Meredith, of the University of Edinburgh, said: "The aim is to find out how and why red squirrels catch leprosy, and how it affects individuals and populations.
"With this research we aim to help conservationists better understand the disease in this iconic species."
The risk to humans from the disease is negligible, wildlife experts say.