A group of 72 researchers from the Big Apple embarked on a somewhat strange task in early March 2020: Counting the squirrels that inhabit 24 parks in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Their findings, compiled in the Squirrels, Parks, and the City Census: A (Very Serious) Data-Gathering Expedition, were published Friday by The Squirrel Census. The results can be accessed through NYC Open Data, a site that releases free public data provided by city agencies and other groups.
The peculiar group, made up of data scientists and naturalists, detected 433 squirrels in total, according to the report. Tompkins Square Park in the East Village had the most sightings.
Four parks — Sternberg and Cooper Parks in Brooklyn, as well as Thomas Paine and Sara D. Roosevelt Parks in Manhattan — reported zero sightings.
Gray squirrels were the most common (390 total), followed by tan squirrels (26), and then black squirrels (16).
According to Gothamist, the Squirrel Census was originally started in Atlanta in 2012 by Jamie Allen to answer the curious question of how many squirrels live in the park. Since then, the initiative has migrated outside the South, and this is the second edition in New York. The latest version, published in 2019, only counted the squirrels in Central Park.
The data, which is the first of its kind for these parks, provides vital scientific information about urban wildlife. Very little is known about city squirrels across the country, and scientists say the mammals may offer clues about how other animals might adapt to climate change.
And along with data spread across two counties, the new release is accompanied by a toll-free number, 1-833-NYC-SQRL, where the public can now hear the experiences and information collected by volunteers. This hotline includes an option to listen to a song about this curious fauna.
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