The BBC reports an artificial intelligence (AI) tool which has been trained to tell the difference between grey and red squirrels could be “an absolute game changer”, conservationists say.

The system, called Squirrel Agent, has been trained on thousands of images of the animals allowing it to tell them apart with 97% accuracy, its developer says.

It can then be used to automatically control access to squirrel feeders – with only reds being allowed into those containing food, and only greys into those where food has been replaced with contraceptive paste.

The Guardian reports red squirrels will soon disappear from England unless the government funds a vaccine against squirrelpox, one of the biggest groups set up to protect the species has warned.

Conservationists say the English population of non-native grey squirrels has exploded this year, triggered by warmer winters which enable mating pairs to feed and breed all year round, and estimate that 70% are carrying squirrelpox, a virus which is lethal only to red squirrels.

Born Free Foundation report the Labour government has published details of badger culling licenses that could result in the targeting of almost 40,000 additional badgers in 2024. These culls, across the High-Risk bovine TB area in England, will be in addition to the 230,000 that have been killed since licensed culling was introduced in 2013.

The first ever National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy has been published by leading wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).

The strategy has been created in response to trends highlighted in the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, also published by BHPS and PTES, which revealed that native hedgehogs have declined by between 30-75% in rural areas since 2000. To tackle this ongoing decline, BHPS and PTES have worked collaboratively with over 30 leading conservation NGOs, academics, educational institutions, hedgehog rehabilitators and organisations within the transport and farming sectors*, to create a topline, national strategy that can guide the change that’s desperately needed.

More on the RPSB website here.

Country Living reports wildlife charities are calling for beavers to be released into rivers across England and Wales – putting an end to enclosures and making the animals officially wild.

Last week, the Wildlife Trusts published A vision for the return of beavers to England and Wales, a report that urges the government to bring the animals back to rivers and asks for “illegal wild populations to be allowed to stay.

BBC News reports baby beavers have been born in urban London for the first time in more than 400 years, a conservation project said.

The family of Eurasian beavers were introduced to a nature reserve in Ealing, west London, in October as part of a project that aims to get the public to engage with nature, to study biodiversity improvements and to monitor flood mitigation effects.