Are There Squirrels in France? Native & Introduced Species

France is home to a healthy and genetically diverse population of native red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), the country’s only indigenous tree squirrel, along with at least two introduced squirrel species that have established breeding populations in different regions. The situation is more dynamic than it might sound, because France sits at a crossroads in one of Europe’s most consequential wildlife conflicts: the anticipated westward spread of the invasive eastern grey squirrel from neighboring Italy.

The Native Red Squirrel

If you visit a French forest, park, or even a tree-lined city boulevard, the squirrel you’re most likely to see is the Eurasian red squirrel. Red squirrels are found across the country, from the mixed woodlands of Brittany and Normandy to the conifer forests of the Alps and Pyrenees. Their coat color varies more than people expect: while the classic bushy-tailed, russet-red form is the most familiar, French red squirrels can range from bright ginger through dark brown to nearly black, depending on the region and the season. In winter they grow distinctive ear tufts that grey squirrels lack.

Genetically, French red squirrels are in surprisingly good shape compared to populations elsewhere in Europe. A large-scale survey of mitochondrial DNA across French populations found strong signals of population expansion, which stands in contrast to most other European red squirrel populations where numbers have been declining.¹ The same study showed that French red squirrels’ genetic profiles don’t cluster neatly by geographic region, suggesting they haven’t been isolated into fragmented pockets the way populations in Britain or parts of Italy have. That genetic mixing is a good sign for the species’ long-term resilience in France.

Red squirrels also seem comfortable in French urban settings. Research on European red squirrels in city parks has found that they sometimes reach higher densities in urban environments than in natural forests, likely because parks offer consistent food sources, fewer natural predators, and mature trees with plenty of nesting cavities.² Parisian parks and gardens, for instance, support visible red squirrel populations that residents and visitors encounter regularly.

Pallas’s Squirrel on the Riviera

Not every squirrel you see in France is a red squirrel. In the southeastern corner of the country, near the resort town of Antibes on the Côte d’Azur, a population of Pallas’s squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus) has been established since the late 1960s. These are small, strikingly colorful Asian tree squirrels with olive-brown backs and conspicuous reddish-orange bellies, quite unlike anything native to Europe. They were originally released or escaped from private collections, and they’ve been slowly expanding their range ever since.

Research tracking their spread confirmed that the population has been growing exponentially over recent decades, though the rate of geographic expansion is slow, with diffusion estimates of roughly 0.08 to 0.20 kilometers per year.³ That pace may seem glacial, but the concern is that once a non-native squirrel species has a foothold and begins reproducing reliably, eradication becomes much harder over time. French authorities launched a control program in 2012 aimed at limiting further spread. Whether the population can ultimately be contained or removed remains an open question. Pallas’s squirrels are also established in parts of Argentina, Japan, and several other countries outside their native range in Southeast Asia, so France’s experience is part of a broader global pattern.

Siberian Chipmunks in the Forests Near Paris

A second introduced species with a larger footprint in France is the Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus). These small, striped ground-dwelling squirrels were popular pets across Europe from the 1960s through the 1980s, imported primarily from South Korea. When owners released them or they escaped, several populations took root in French forests, particularly in suburban woodlands around Paris and in other parts of the country. Genetic analysis of five established French populations determined that all belong to the subspecies T. sibiricus barberi, native to the Korean peninsula, consistent with the intense pet trade between Europe and Korea during that era.⁴

Siberian chipmunks aren’t just a novelty in French forests. They’ve become a genuine public health concern. In woodlands where chipmunks are present, researchers found that chipmunk populations produced roughly 8.5 times more Borrelia burgdorferi-infected tick nymphs than native rodents like the bank vole and wood mouse.⁵ That matters because Borrelia burgdorferi is the bacterium behind Lyme disease, and infected tick nymphs are the primary vector that bites people. The chipmunks’ burrowing habits and high tick loads make them especially effective amplifiers of the Lyme disease cycle. Studies in peri-urban forests around Paris confirmed that infection rates in questing tick nymphs differed between plots with and without chipmunk populations.⁶ For people who hike or walk dogs in woodlands near major French cities, this is a tangible and somewhat underappreciated risk introduced by a seemingly harmless exotic pet.

The Grey Squirrel Threat from Italy

France does not currently have an established population of the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), the North American species that has devastated red squirrel populations in Britain and Ireland. But the grey squirrel is firmly established in northern Italy, particularly in Piedmont, and its range has been creeping westward toward the French border for decades. Modeling studies have predicted that, under a worst-case scenario, grey squirrels could reach France between 2026 and 2031. Even under more optimistic projections, the species would begin invading the Alps within 30 to 40 years, with an arrival at the French border within about 70 to 75 years from the time of the study.⁷

Climatic niche analyses have since reinforced these concerns. Researchers comparing the grey squirrel’s range in North America with its current and potential range in Europe identified France, along with Italy, Spain, Croatia, and Portugal, as areas where the climate would suit grey squirrels but where they haven’t yet colonized.⁸ In other words, the habitat is suitable. The squirrels just haven’t walked far enough west yet. That gap between suitable habitat and current presence is exactly the scenario that makes conservation biologists nervous.

This is why French researchers launched a preventative conservation effort to understand the country’s red squirrel populations before a grey squirrel invasion occurs, rather than scrambling to study them afterward.¹ Removing two of the three grey squirrel populations in northern Italy was modeled to delay the invasion of Switzerland, but it would not meaningfully delay the arrival in France. The conclusion from researchers is blunt: expansion from Italy into France and beyond is simply a matter of time.⁷

Why Grey Squirrels Are So Damaging to Red Squirrels

The red-vs-grey squirrel conflict isn’t a matter of grey squirrels actively attacking reds. The displacement happens through a combination of competition and, in Britain at least, disease. Grey squirrels are slightly larger and more efficient at exploiting broadleaf woodland foods, particularly acorns and other hardwood seeds. Research has shown that grey squirrels reduce body growth in juvenile and subadult red squirrels, and they steal seed caches that adult red squirrels store underground in spring.⁹ Over time, this nutritional disadvantage compounds: fewer red squirrels reproduce successfully, juvenile survival drops, and the population declines even without a single squirrel being physically harmed by another.

Then there’s squirrelpox. In Britain, the grey squirrel carries squirrelpox virus (SQPV), to which it is largely immune but which is almost always fatal to red squirrels. Where squirrelpox is present, the replacement of red squirrels by greys is up to 25 times faster than in areas where only competition is at play.¹⁰ The virus can spread through shared ectoparasites like fleas and potentially through contaminated environments. Tracking over time has confirmed that squirrelpox disease appears only in parts of England where seropositive grey squirrels are present, and as greys expand into new areas, squirrelpox follows.¹¹

Whether Italian grey squirrels carry squirrelpox is a critical open question for France. The grey squirrels in Italy were introduced from a different source population than those in Britain, and surveillance for the virus in Italian greys has so far not produced the alarming results seen in the UK. If the greys that eventually reach France don’t carry SQPV, the displacement of red squirrels would be slower and potentially manageable in some habitats. If they do carry it, France’s red squirrels could face a British-style collapse within a few decades of contact.

What Grey Squirrels Do to Forests

The threat isn’t limited to red squirrels. Grey squirrels strip bark from trees, particularly thin-barked broadleaf species, and the economic damage can be substantial. Long-term monitoring in a mixed broadleaf woodland in Britain found that during an initial outbreak of bark-stripping in 1983, almost a third of beech trees of a certain size class were badly damaged, and by 1993 that figure had risen to over 50 percent. A third of the badly damaged trees, including potential canopy dominants, died within the decade.¹² The damage is highly variable between years, with bad breeding seasons for grey squirrels producing surges in juvenile numbers that trigger more bark-stripping.¹³

France has significant commercial forestry interests, including valuable beech and oak stands. Beech is among the species most vulnerable to grey squirrel damage. If grey squirrels reach France and establish themselves in broadleaf forests, the forestry sector would face costs that Britain has already been absorbing for decades but that France has so far been spared.

One piece of moderate reassurance comes from research on grey squirrels and birds. Camera monitoring of over 12,000 bird nests in Britain found that grey squirrels depredated eggs or chicks at just 0.5 percent of nests, suggesting that grey squirrels are unlikely to be significant nest predators in their present or projected European range.¹⁴ That’s a concern that gets raised frequently in popular accounts but doesn’t hold up in the data.

The Alpine Marmot and France’s Broader Squirrel Family

Squirrels belong to the family Sciuridae, which includes not just tree squirrels but also ground squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots. France is home to one other notable native sciurid: the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota). These large, social, burrowing rodents live in the high-altitude meadows of the Alps, Jura, and, through reintroduction programs, the Pyrenees and the Massif Central. They’re among the most visible and charismatic wildlife in the French mountains, known for their sharp alarm whistles and their habit of standing bolt upright on hind legs to survey for predators.

Marmots are considerably larger than tree squirrels, weighing several kilograms, and they hibernate for six months or more through the alpine winter. They occupy a completely different ecological niche from red squirrels and are under no direct threat from the grey squirrel invasion, since grey squirrels are woodland animals and marmots live above the treeline. But their presence means that France’s sciurid diversity is richer than most casual observers realize.

Climate Change and the Outlook for French Red Squirrels

A natural question is whether climate change threatens red squirrels in France directly, through shifting temperatures and altered forest composition. Recent modeling work looking at red squirrel distribution across western Europe found that bioclimatic variables alone have limited predictive power for where red squirrels occur, and no direct climate impacts were identified.¹⁵ In plain terms, rising temperatures by themselves aren’t expected to push red squirrels out of French forests. Red squirrels are adaptable across a broad range of climates and forest types.

The indirect effects are a different story. If warmer conditions expand the range of suitable habitat for grey squirrels, or make it easier for them to cross alpine barriers from Italy, climate change could accelerate the timeline for the grey squirrel’s arrival in France. The same study flagged this possibility: while climate won’t directly harm red squirrels, the expansion of grey squirrels driven partly by shifting conditions may worsen the challenges red squirrel populations face.¹⁵ France’s red squirrels are healthy for now, and their genetic diversity gives them a cushion. The question is how long they’ll have the country to themselves before the competition arrives.

Spotting Squirrels in France

For visitors or new residents hoping to see squirrels in France, the red squirrel is present in virtually every forested or well-treed area in the country. City parks in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Toulouse all support populations. They’re easiest to spot in autumn and early spring, when they’re actively foraging on the ground for cached seeds. If you’re on the Côte d’Azur near Antibes, the smaller, colorful squirrels with red-orange undersides moving through trees are likely Pallas’s squirrels rather than reds. And in the suburban forests near Paris, a small striped animal scurrying along the ground is almost certainly a Siberian chipmunk, not any native species.

The absence of grey squirrels from France can be disorienting for visitors from Britain or North America, where greys dominate urban parks. In France, for now, every tree squirrel is a red. That distinction makes France one of western Europe’s most important remaining strongholds for the species, and it explains why French conservation efforts are focused less on saving what remains than on preventing a future loss that hasn’t happened yet.