The Red Squirrel has been named Scotland’s second favourite animal in a poll run by SNH and VisitScotland.
The campaign was run jointly by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and VisitScotland as part of the Year of Natural Scotland 2013 celebrations.
The golden eagle received 4,773 of the 12,417 votes cast. The red squirrel was second with 2,523, the red deer 1,819, otter 1,794 and harbour seal 725.
Other animals received 783 votes, with the top three being wildcat, pine marten and puffin.
Commenting Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“So far the Year of Natural Scotland has been a great success in attracting visitors to the great Scottish outdoors.
“The Red Squirrel was my own personal choice for the award and although it missed out on the top spot, second place is still worthy recognition for what is officially one of Scotland’s most beloved animals.
“Nonetheless, despite the red squirrels being among Scotland’s favourite wild animals its future is in danger due to the spread of the grey squirrel.
“It is clear that over the last ten years, we have seen grey squirrels moving further and further north into Scotland, with Perthshire now the battleground for red and grey squirrels as we have both populations in the area.
“The Scottish Government must ensure that it puts in place the correct structures that will allow red squirrels to thrive for the foreseeable future.”