Red squirrels are critically threatened in England by squirrelpox disease carried by grey squirrels, and conservation efforts must balance population management with individual animal welfare.
Red squirrel conservation creates a genuine welfare tension: the welfare of individual grey squirrels versus the welfare and survival of red squirrel populations. Current management relies heavily on lethal grey squirrel control, raising welfare concerns about killing methods, non-target capture, and the scale of culling required to maintain refugia. The development of fertility control through oral bait vaccines represents a welfare-positive alternative that could eventually reduce reliance on lethal methods. For red squirrels themselves, disease monitoring and vaccination programmes directly improve individual welfare by preventing the agonising progression of squirrelpox.