The recovery of pine martens in the UK has beneficial knock-on effects for red squirrel welfare by reducing grey squirrel competition through natural predation.
The pine marten-squirrel dynamic represents an interesting welfare case study: natural predation pressure on grey squirrels controls populations through an ecological mechanism rather than human lethal intervention. From a welfare perspective, predation is a natural mortality cause that, while involving suffering for individual prey animals, occurs at a scale and in a context that is part of normal ecological function. The welfare benefit for red squirrels — reduced competition for food and habitat — represents a positive welfare outcome at population level. The recovery of a native predator as a management tool demonstrates how conservation can achieve wildlife control outcomes through ecosystem restoration rather than ongoing human killing.