Dubai: Squirrels are not your average pest in the UAE, but according to a new study, they may soon be categorised as one.
In the latest issue of Tribulus, a journal published by the Emirates Natural History Group, experts have revealed that the Five-striped Palm Squirrel has spread in rapid numbers over the last few years across the country.
The Five-striped Palm Squirrel, an imported species that is native to South Asia and Iran, was first recorded in the UAE in Hamriya, Ras Al Khaimah in 2009.
The findings showed that the squirrels were spotted in all of the emirates, except Umm Al Quwain, with sightings in several areas of Dubai, Abu Dhabi city, Samha, Sharjah, Ajman, and Dhaid. They were also sighted in Kalba, Fujairah, and Dibba.
The study was carried out by Jacky Judas, manager and scientific adviser for terrestrial biodiversity at the Emirates Wildlife Society – Worldwide Fund for Nature, EWS-WWF, and Peter Hellyer, a historian and author who has been studying aspects of the UAE's wildlife for over 30 years.
"Cute they may be, but they clearly have the potential to become pests here, as they have done in Australia," said Judas and Hellyer, who were quoted by the state news agency Wam.
"Given the apparent recent and fast spread of the species in the UAE, it is likely that the population will continue to grow."
The research further suggests that the palm squirrels were first imported into the UAE as pets, but may have either escaped or were deliberately released into the wildlife.
Several family groups have been seen in a number of locations, suggesting that the squirrels are breeding successfully, while a peak count of around 50 individuals were seen in Sharjah National Park in July last year, according to the study.
Judas is currently working to establish an open-access database of sightings of mammal species in the Emirates, both native and introduced.
"The fact that this introduced squirrel species has established a self-sustaining population over a period of only a few years highlights the need to systematically record all observations of alien non-native species, and to maintain them in a centralised national biodiversity database," he said.
The squirrels are native to India and poses a serious threat to fruit crops and birds’ eggs.
"When an alien, non-native species has spread and has started to do damage, it can be extremely difficult and costly to remove it," said Judas.
