Overview
- King Charles, who visited on Tuesday, toured the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s York Biotech Campus and was shown breeding pens, field trial work and bespoke feeding devices for the contraceptive programme.
- APHA researchers described an oral contraceptive delivered in a hazelnut paste and specialist feeders that aim to reduce grey squirrel reproduction without harming red squirrels.
- Scientists told the King they are developing traps that target grey squirrels but not other animals and that combining contraception with standard control methods lowers grey squirrel numbers more effectively.
- APHA research cited during the visit estimates more than 2.5 million grey squirrels in the UK compared with fewer than 300,000 red squirrels, a gap the programme seeks to narrow to protect wider woodland biodiversity.
- After the APHA engagement the King visited York Hospital’s refurbished Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre and planted a Macmillan Rose, underscoring his dual role as environmental advocate and charity patron.