Perth & Kinross has some of Scotland's most dramatic scenery extending from the flat agricultural plains to the hills above Dunkeld, attracting the visitor onwards to the more dramatic wilderness of the Cairngorm National Park. We are proud to be known as "Big Tree Country" for the large forests and woodlands that cover the area. It is among those trees that a large proportion of the UK's red squirrel population lives.
However, these red havens are increasingly under threat from migrating grey squirrels coming from the south. Grey squirrels are strong competitors for habitat and food resources and have caused huge declines in red populations in England and Wales. Some of them also carry a virus to which they are immune but which is fatal to reds. This has now crossed the border into Scotland. |
