The Science Wants to Genocide Grey Squirrels with Oral Contraceptives

by Chris Black

Wait, so distributing birth control is a way to commit a genocide?

I wish someone would have told me that before I gave women the right to vote.

The Guardian:

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Oral contraceptives for squirrels are working, research has found, and the government hopes they can be used to keep populations down in the UK.

Grey squirrels are an invasive species in the UK, introduced from North America in the 1870s. They pose a problem for wildlife including endangered red squirrels, which they outcompete. They also carry a disease called squirrelpox that does not affect them but can kill reds.

They were originally used as an ornamental species to decorate the gardens of stately homes, before the damage they caused was realised and their release was banned in the 1930s.

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