Hi @IlaFrance. I don’t know much about squirrels or the ecology of Morocco, but it’s interesting and concerning to read about what you’re seeing.
I took a look at the observations in iNat to see if that might shed any light on population trends. Here’s a comparison of Barbary Ground Squirrel observations in Morocco for the past five years.
Unfortunately, the number of iNat observations is probably too few to draw any firm conclusions. There were 4 observations in 2016, 5 in 2017, 9 in 2018, 11 in 2019 and 13 in 2020 (easiest to see if you switch to the History/Seasonality tab). One of the 2019 observations was by you, as were three of the 2020 observations, of which the last is essentially to report the absence of squirrels since the summer. So the raw data suggest a modest increase in reported observations, but we need to set that against a general increase in observations worldwide over time (including Morocco) and a drop in observations in Morocco in 2020 (presumably caused by the pandemic curtailing most tourism). FWIW, here are the ground squirrel observations as a percentage of all observations in Morocco across those years:
- 2016: 0.664% (4 in 602)
- 2017: 0.706% (5 in 708)
- 2018: 0.267% (9 in 3,377)
- 2019: 0.300% (11 in 3,665)
- 2020: 0.522% (12 in 2,297)
Given all the complicating factors (low observation numbers, no systematic observation strategy), I don’t think we can draw any real conclusion from that.
Historically, it seems most ground squirrel observations have been from December through March, but that just tracks the overall pattern of observations in Morocco.
Interestingly, in the Canary Islands, where there is an invasive, introduced population of barbary ground squirrels, there was a big drop in observations in 2020 (down to 9 from 26 in 2019), but I’m guessing this also likely reflects reduced tourism.
This 2018 paper (based on research from 2017) indicates that mating happens around February, with the first young squirrels typically born in March.
That research also indicates that the species had expanded its range up to 25 km north of Safi, whereas the previous limit had been 30 km south of Safi. The rapid colonization documented in this paper (and the invasive spread of the species on Fuerteventura) suggests that if neighboring populations survived there’s a good chance your area will be recolonized in coming years.