The red squirrel has been largely displaced from England and Wales by the introduced grey squirrel. Conservation efforts rely on grey squirrel control, disease management, and habitat protection — raising significant welfare questions.
Red squirrel conservation involves a direct welfare tension: protecting red squirrels requires controlling grey squirrels through methods that cause those animals suffering and death. Live-trapped grey squirrels must be humanely killed immediately under UK law — typically by shooting — as releasing them is illegal and would undermine conservation. CO2 gassing of grey squirrels in traps is approved but raises welfare questions about the duration and nature of the dying process. The development of species-specific fertility control (GonaCon bait) represents a potential route to reducing lethal control while maintaining conservation goals. Squirrelpox disease, when it reaches red squirrel populations, causes painful skin lesions and fatal encephalitis — preventing spread through vaccination research and grey squirrel management is thus a direct welfare intervention for reds.