Polecats are recovering across Britain after near-extinction. Understanding the welfare challenges they face and how conservation supports their wellbeing is essential for their future.
Recovering polecat populations face welfare challenges associated with range expansion into human-dominated landscapes. Road mortality is the primary cause of death for dispersing polecats moving into new areas. Secondary poisoning from rodenticides used in agricultural and urban settings accumulates in predators like polecats. Conservation efforts that reduce these mortality sources improve both population-level outcomes and individual animal welfare.