Sciurus vulgaris

Basic information
Scientific name	Sciurus vulgaris	(No picture)
Common names	Eurasian red squirrel
Higher taxon	Sciuridae, Rodentia, Mammalia
Natural range	Forested regions of Palearctic, from Iberia and Great Britain east to Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Isl (Russia); south to Mediterranean and Black Seas, N Mongolia, W and NE China. There is natural population in Hokkaido (S. v. orientalis).
Habitat	Evergreen coniferous forests.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	Recorded from Sayama Hilly Zone, Tokyo and Saitama Pref.
Origin	Unknown.
Date	1998 or earlier (Sayama Hilly Zone)
Route	Deliberate: Continental subspecies were distributed as pet.
Impact	(Potentially) Competition, hybridization against native species. destruction of landscape. Carrying infectious disease (such as murrain or recurrent fever mediated by mites). Native organism(s) affected: (Potentially) Sciurid mammals (S. v. orientalis, Tamias sibericus, and Pteromys volans orii in Hokkaido, Sciurus lis and Pteromys momonga in Honshu.
Regulation in Japan	Import, transport and keeping of all the subspecies except S. v. orientalis are legally restricted in Japan.
Introduced range in other countries	Not known.

Reference	Notes
DECO (ed) (2006) Dictionary of Alien Species. Tokyo-Shoseki. (in Jpn) Ecol Soc Japan (ed) (2002) Handbook of Alien Species in Japan. Chijin-Shokan. (in Jpn) JWRC (ed) (2008) A Photographic Guide to the Invasive Alien Species in Japan. Heibonsha. (in Jpn) Odachi et al. (eds) (2009) The Wild Mammals of Japan. Shokabou, Kyoto.