Red squirrels are an endangered native UK species whose survival is threatened primarily by squirrelpox virus carried asymptomatically by grey squirrels. Conservation efforts combine grey squirrel management with direct red squirrel protection.
Squirrelpox disease causes significant suffering in individual red squirrels: the haemorrhagic form produces skin lesions, scabs, and oedema that progress rapidly to death over 1-2 weeks. There is no treatment once clinical signs develop. Conservation management must balance red squirrel welfare with the welfare implications of grey squirrel control, which typically involves lethal methods. This creates an ethical tension in wildlife management: protecting one sentient species requires harming another. Grey squirrel control in buffer zones around red squirrel strongholds is considered necessary for conservation success. Supplementary feeding supports individual red squirrel condition but can concentrate populations near feeding stations, increasing disease transmission risk if grey squirrels gain access. Biosecurity at feeding stations is therefore a welfare consideration.