Red squirrels: DNA testing in mid Wales to track numbers

Cutting-edge DNA techniques are being used on a new project to track red squirrels in mid Wales.

It's the only part of the country where red squirrels have survived without support from re-introduction, but the size of the population has been hard to assess.

Wildlife officers have started trapping red squirrels and taking hair samples from the tail, which are sent to the biosciences department at Swansea University for analysis.

Sarah Purdon, an officer with the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership, said it would hopefully give them "a family tree" to assess the size and health of the group.