King Charles has made a “very generous” donation to the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, a charity dedicated to eliminating grey squirrels from the United Kingdom to protect the native red squirrel population.
The donation was reported by The Times on April 26, 2026, and confirmed through multiple verified sources, including the charity’s public mission and related conservation efforts in the UK.
The Red Squirrel Survival Trust aims to completely eradicate grey squirrels in Britain, which it identifies as the primary threat to the survival of the indigenous red squirrel species. Grey squirrels, introduced from North America in the 19th century, outcompete red squirrels for food and habitat and carry squirrelpox, a virus lethal to reds but harmless to greys.
Conservationists estimate there are over 2.5 million grey squirrels in the UK, compared to fewer than 300,000 red squirrels, making population control a central strategy in red squirrel recovery efforts.
The charity’s approach includes supporting lethal control methods, such as trapping and humane dispatch, as well as promoting research into fertility control. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has been developing a contraceptive bait designed to render grey squirrels infertile during key breeding periods, with trials showing success in laboratory models.
This donation aligns with long-standing royal involvement in UK wildlife conservation. In 2014, then-Prince Charles supported the UK Squirrel Accord, an agreement between government, forestry, and conservation groups to protect red squirrels through coordinated grey squirrel management.
The Red Squirrel Survival Trust emphasizes that its goal is not animal cruelty but ecological restoration, arguing that without intervention, red squirrels could face extinction in England and Wales within decades.
Public guidance from the RSPCA clarifies that while releasing trapped grey squirrels into the wild is illegal under UK law, freeing a grey squirrel accidentally caught in bird feeders or netting is permitted and encouraged to avoid unnecessary suffering.
The King’s contribution adds significant financial and symbolic weight to ongoing efforts to balance invasive species control with native wildlife preservation, a challenge that continues to shape UK conservation policy.