Red squirrels are critically endangered in England and Wales, with populations restricted to a few refugia. Conservation welfare - protecting individual red squirrels from disease, predation, and competition - is essential for species survival.
Conservation of red squirrels involves individual welfare considerations including disease, predation risk, and the welfare implications of grey squirrel control. Squirrelpox causes a painful death over 2-3 weeks in affected red squirrels. The ethical tension between individual grey squirrel welfare and red squirrel conservation requires honest engagement - grey squirrel culling causes individual harm to prevent greater aggregate harm to a dying species. Vaccination against squirrelpox, if it becomes practical, would resolve this tension.