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The red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel common throughout Eurasia, and is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent.

Grey squirrels, introduced from North America by Victorian enthusiasts, have subsequently pushed red squirrels out of much of the UK -- the reds outcompeted by the bigger greys and also succumbing to squirrelpox virus carried by the non-native animal.

Grey squirrels have not yet penetrated much of the UK (Scottish) Highlands, but new modelling led by Prof Andy White, a mathematical biologist at Heriot-Watt University, UK, suggests that there are at least 20 havens across Scotland where viable populations of reds would remain even if the greys continued to march northwards. Indeed, these twenty forest strongholds in Scotland would save the red squirrel from extinction even if grey squirrels were to colonise the whole of Britain, he claims.

"This is great news for red squirrels," said White. "When I started this research 10 years ago I was pretty pessimistic about the outcome for red squirrels in Scotland. Now I'm very optimistic. The work carried out by conservation bodies has prevented the spread of grey squirrels beyond certain boundaries over the last decade."