Polecats were nearly exterminated from Britain but have recovered to recolonise much of England and Wales. Their welfare faces ongoing challenges from road mortality and hybridisation.
Polecat welfare is improving as populations recover, but road mortality on busy roads intersecting their dispersal corridors is a persistent welfare concern. Individual polecats attempting to cross roads during dispersal face high mortality risk. The hybridisation issue creates welfare complexity - hybrid animals have similar welfare needs to pure polecats but the population-level implications of hybridisation are debated. Maintaining suitable habitat corridors with underpasses under major roads would directly reduce road mortality welfare impacts.