The European polecat is recovering across much of Britain following decades of persecution, but road casualties and hybridization with domestic ferrets pose ongoing welfare and conservation challenges.
Polecats killed on roads typically die traumatically, and injured animals may survive for hours before being found. The expansion of polecat range into increasingly road-dense areas in eastern England means that traffic mortality will likely become an increasing welfare burden as the population grows. The welfare and conservation case for wildlife crossing infrastructure including culverts, wildlife bridges, and road barriers at identified polecat road mortality hotspots is strong and increasingly supported by wildlife monitoring data.