Pine martens have recovered strongly in Scotland and are now expanding into northern England, with welfare management considerations for a formerly persecuted mustelid.
Pine martens caught incidentally in snares set for rabbits or foxes experience distress and potential injury. Road mortality causes direct death for dispersing individuals. Poaching through illegal trapping still occasionally occurs. The species' role in suppressing grey squirrel populations provides an ecological service to red squirrel conservation — demonstrating that the welfare of recovered predators can benefit vulnerable prey species.