Red squirrel conservation in England requires grey squirrel population management that involves killing tens of thousands of individuals annually. This welfare trade-off is genuinely complex.
Red versus grey squirrel welfare involves a genuine conflict between the welfare of individual grey squirrels and the species-level survival of red squirrels. Grey squirrels killed in traps experience stress during capture and killing stress if dispatch is not rapid. However, the alternative - allowing squirrelpox to spread through residual red squirrel populations - causes a different set of welfare harms and species loss. The development of oral immunocontraceptives would allow management without lethal control, resolving the welfare dilemma. Supporting this research is the most welfare-aligned action for people who find the lethal control calculus uncomfortable.