Controlling invasive species to protect native wildlife raises difficult welfare questions about methods used to kill or remove animals that are not responsible for their introduction.
Invasive species control presents a genuine welfare dilemma: controlling invasive animals to protect native species inevitably involves causing suffering or death to individual animals. Grey squirrel culling to protect red squirrel populations and the rarer birds they indirectly benefit involves killing tens of thousands of sentient mammals annually. Welfare considerations should inform method selection: lethal trapping should minimise time-to-death, shooting should be accurate, and poisoning agents should be chosen for rapid action. Non-lethal methods including contraception and habitat modification deserve more research investment. The welfare of both native and invasive species deserves consideration in management decisions.