Rare white squirrel spotted in Sussex park

Eastbourne resident David Cavaliere snapped a photo of the animal in Gildredge Park, Eastbourne, last month.

The sighting is particularly exciting as there is reportedly just a one in 100,000 chance of seeing an albino squirrel in the UK.

Claire Brimacombe, an analyst from East Sussex, has been recording sightings of white squirrels since 2018 when she spotted one while out on a walk in Alfriston.

She said the squirrels are often found living in public places – such as parks, children's playgrounds, and cemeteries – where predator populations tend to be low.

It was originally thought that there were just 50 albino squirrels in the country, but Claire has received more than 1,750 reports of sightings, through her website: www.whitesquirrels.co.uk.

She said: “Although many of these are the same squirrel being spotted, I would estimate that approximately 400 of these are individual sightings.”

Claire also said that despite how ‘conspicuous they are to predators’, white squirrels seem to be thriving in the wild.

There are two types of genetic differences that can cause the distinctive white fur among squirrels.

Albinism is caused by a reduction in melanin and gives the creatures red eyes – it is thought that the majority of white squirrels in the region are albino grey squirrels. A similar genetic mutation, leucism, causes the animal to have a partial loss of pigmentation which affects the skin and hair but not its eyes.

David believes the squirrel he spotted was albino due to the red appearance of its eyes.

Further reportings have been made elsewhere across Sussex.

Following a sighting in St Leonards in 2021, Charlotte Owen, WildCall officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, 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 spots a white squirrel is urged to report it to www.whitesquirrels.co.uk and www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk.