The curlew is the UK's most pressing bird conservation priority, with upland breeding populations declining rapidly due to predation pressure, habitat loss, and disturbance.
Individual curlew welfare is threatened by predation, which causes a rapid, traumatic death for chicks and occasionally adults. Dogs off leads disturbing incubating adults cause egg chilling and nest abandonment with chick mortality. Adults whose chicks are killed after extended incubation face repeated breeding failures that represent prolonged reproductive stress. Conservation interventions including predator management and brood management aim to improve chick survival and thus the welfare of breeding adults who otherwise experience repeated failure. The combination of habitat and population pressure makes curlew one of the most welfare-critical UK breeding birds.