Squirrelpox virus carried by grey squirrels remains the primary threat to red squirrel recovery, and disease management approaches must balance effectiveness against welfare impacts.
Red squirrels infected with squirrelpox suffer from progressive lesions on the face and body before death. Grey squirrels subject to lethal control experience stress during trapping and pain from shooting if poorly executed. Immunocontraception research offers a welfare-improving alternative that would reduce red squirrel disease exposure without lethal grey squirrel control. Individual welfare considerations must be balanced against population-level conservation outcomes.