Eastern gray squirrel: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the eastern gray squirrel lives – recorded in 7 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Sciurus carolinensis
Group	Squirrels, chipmunks & marmots
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	7 countries
Continents	Africa, Europe, North America
Mass	15.5 g (birth weight)
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Sciuridae

Where does the eastern gray squirrel live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the eastern gray squirrel in 7 countries and territories across Africa, Europe and North America. In France, Ireland, Italy, South Africa it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

United Kingdom
United States
Canada
Ireland (introduced)
South Africa (introduced)
Italy (introduced)
France (introduced)

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an eastern gray squirrel?

Wikidata records the following for the eastern gray squirrel: mass 15.5 g (birth weight).

Is the eastern gray squirrel endangered?

The eastern gray squirrel’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the eastern gray squirrel?

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Sciuridae, genus Sciurus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the eastern gray squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), spelled as grey squirrel outside of the United States, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator. Widely introduced to certain places around the world, the eastern gray squirrel in Europe, in particular, is regarded as an invasive species.

In Europe, Sciurus carolinensis is included (since 2016) in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Eastern gray squirrel (revision 1380663589), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q468500 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).