The movement of wild and captive bred animals to re-establish or reinforce wild populations is increasingly used in conservation efforts, sparking debates about individual animal welfare.
While there are natural synergies between animal welfare – focusing on the well-being of individual animals, and conservation – focusing on the status of populations or species, sometimes trade-offs are required, and complex ethical dilemmas posed.
As part of a long-term effort to address animal welfare challenges in conservation translocations, researchers from WildCRU, the Royal Veterinary College and others collected data from nearly 200 conservation practitioners. They were asked their views on what welfare means in this context and to what extent it is currently considered in decision making within translocation programmes.
This work is supporting the discussion and integration of animal welfare values and concerns into conservation translocations.