Rare white squirrel spotted in Eastbourne park

Peter Rolfe said he photographed the animal in Gildredge Park on Saturday, March 11.

He added: “I was walking through the park with my wife. We saw it from about 100 yards away as it ran across our path then disappeared up a tree. We were puzzled and curious. When we passed the tree it was on the ground and came over to us.”

According to whitesquirrels.co.uk, a majority of white squirrel sightings in the country have been in Sussex, Hampshire, south London and Kent. On the website it says it has received reports of 69 white squirrel sightings in East Sussex and 24 in West Sussex.

A spokesperson from whitesquirrels.co.uk said: “There are significantly more albino squirrels in the UK than suggested. I now have over 200 separate sightings recorded throughout the UK.”

There are two types of genetic differences that cause the white fur, the spokesperson said. These is albinism, a condition caused by an absence of melanin and making the squirrel identifiable by its red eyes, and leucism, which causes squirrels to have a partial loss of pigmentation affecting the skin and hair but not its eyes.

Mr Rolfe said he believes the squirrel he saw was leucistic.

The odds of seeing an albino squirrel are said to be one in 100,000 – although one has been spotted in St Leonards.

On whitesquirrels.co.uk it says white squirrels appear to be thriving in the UK as they are often spotted in public places, such as parks, where there are not many predators.

Following a sighting in St Leonards in December 2021, Sussex Wildlife Trust WildCall officer Charlotte Owen said: “It seems there may be a few particular hotspots emerging in Sussex, either because it’s the same squirrel being seen by different people or because there are small colonies of white squirrels surviving and reproducing.

“We’ve had previous sightings in East Grinstead as well as Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hailsham, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath among others.”

Anyone who sees a white squirrel is urged to report it to whitesquirrels.co.uk and Sussex Wildlife Trust.

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