Red squirrels face extinction pressure from grey squirrel competition and squirrelpox virus, making welfare-conscious conservation critical.
Red squirrel welfare is threatened by both direct disease and the stress of competition pressure. Squirrelpox infection causes progressive, painful lesions that impair feeding and movement over one to two weeks before death. Infected animals suffer significantly, making outbreak monitoring and rapid response important welfare as well as conservation interventions. Grey squirrel control programs designed to protect red squirrels must be conducted humanely, as inhumane methods cause suffering in the controlled species that must be weighed against conservation benefits. Lethal control of grey squirrels using humane dispatch methods, combined with habitat management, is the current standard approach in red squirrel stronghold areas.