Plans to kill thousands of grey squirrels have been condemned by animal rights groups as “absolutely absurd”.
They said that culling squirrels to save trees would lead to a public outcry, which could undo the government’s efforts to show that it cares about animal welfare.
Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has signalled his support for a cull because squirrels strip the bark from broadleaf saplings, including beeches, sycamores and oaks, which is often fatal for the trees.
The heads of five animal rights charities said that Mr Gove was scapegoating grey squirrels because they were not considered a native species.
“It is absolutely absurd to suggest that grey squirrels should lose their lives because of the minuscule effect they have on trees,” the heads of Animal Aid, the League against Cruel Sports, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), Urban Squirrels and Viva! said.
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Red and grey squirrels both strip the bark from young trees, but greys are larger, more numerous and live more densely together in woodland, which means they have a greater impact on their environment.
Greys, which arrived from North America in the 1870s, also compete for food and spread diseases to native reds, which have disappeared from most of England as a result.
“If it emerges that squirrel culls will be taking place, please expect a significant public outcry. Grey squirrels are the only wildlife many people regularly interact with, and much of the public is very fond of them,” the charities said.
“Human beings have done considerably more damage to trees and woodland than squirrels, red or grey, ever could.”
Mr Gove and Lord Gardiner of Kimble, the rural affairs minister, were asked about culling squirrels by a select committee this month. They agreed that grey squirrels were a threat to trees. Lord Gardiner said that unless they were managed — a euphemism for culling — future generations would never know “the treescapes” of today.
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Similar culls have been supported by the National Trust, which killed hundreds of grey squirrels to eliminate them from its Wallington estate in Northumberland.
The Woodland Trust, which manages more than 1,000 forests, said that stripping bark from young trees “doomed them to a slow death”.
The animal charities said that greys had been “scapegoated because they are not native”. “The entire focus on ‘native’ v ‘non-native’ species is a very outdated and unenlightened approach to take when it comes to conservation,” the letter said.
The government has pledged to plant 11 million trees between 2015 and 2020, but has only planted two million so far.
“It is deeply unjustified for grey squirrels to be persecuted for simply trying to survive, while the government has allowed the large-scale destruction of woodland,” Isobel Hutchinson, director of Animal Aid, said. “If Michael Gove thinks that the public will be convinced by any plans to cull squirrels, then he is very much mistaken. Rather than reaching for the next defenceless animal to scapegoat, the government should focus on policies that genuinely protect our natural environment and the animals who live there.”