Red squirrels have been displaced from most of the UK by invasive grey squirrels and face extinction outside Scotland, northern England and Ireland without active conservation intervention.
Red squirrel welfare depends on freedom from squirrelpox virus and access to food resources. Individual reds that contract squirrelpox suffer a prolonged illness before death. Conservation interventions that suppress grey squirrel populations, support red squirrel nutrition and maintain disease barriers directly benefit individual welfare in surviving populations.