Red squirrels face severe welfare and conservation pressures from grey squirrel competition and squirrelpox virus, with supplementary feeding stations playing a role in supporting vulnerable populations.
Red squirrels facing both competitive exclusion and lethal disease from grey squirrels experience welfare harms at both individual and population levels. Individuals infected with squirrelpox suffer profoundly — the lesions cause significant pain and the animals deteriorate rapidly. Population-level welfare decline through starvation and competitive exclusion reduces the carrying capacity of landscapes for a species adapted to them. Supplementary feeding that maintains body condition during winter food scarcity directly improves individual welfare and supports population persistence in areas where grey squirrel control maintains habitat viability.