Teacher:In this task, you are given an article. Your task is to summarize the article in a sentence.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: Imperial College London said greys were first imported in the 1890s and it was thought they advanced rapidly as they could adapt well to new habitats.
But it is now thought humans assisted the expansion, with the 11th Duke of Bedford, Herbrand Russell, blamed with dispersing greys from Woburn Park.
"Their spread is far more our fault," said Dr Lisa Signorile at the college.
Dr Signorile compiled a DNA database of nearly 1,500 grey squirrels in the UK and Italy during her PhD studies at Imperial College London and the Zoological Society of London.
Her research was published in journals Biological Conservation and Diversity and Distributions.
Rumours a "super squirrel" had developed over the decades that could adapt better and spread further across Britain were quashed in her findings.
But she concluded the only way greys could have travelled so far was by human intervention.
Dr Signorile said "one of the worst offenders" at spreading them was Herbrand Russell.
He was involved in many successful animal conservation projects at Woburn Park in Bedfordshire, but he released and gifted many greys around the UK.
He also released populations in Regent's Park, likely creating London's epidemic of greys, Dr Signorile said.
"It was a time when we didn't know invasive species could cause so much damage," she said.
Sources: Forestry Commission / Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
The study also suggested new ways needed to be found to tackle the spread of grey squirrels in places where they are not yet established, including areas of Scotland, as they carry diseases that only kill red squirrels.
"The public needs to be aware of the risk of even accidentally moving squirrels," said Dr Signorile.
Student:
The spread of grey squirrels in the UK is largely down to the acts of an English duke, new research has claimed.