Wildlife Welfare

Wildlife Monitoring: Minimizing Research Welfare Costs

Monitoring wild animal populations is essential for conservation but must be done in ways that minimize welfare costs to the animals being studied.

Key Facts

Camera traps are one of the most welfare-neutral wildlife monitoring technologies available
eDNA sampling requires no animal contact and provides population presence data
Drone surveys can disturb some species particularly ground-nesting birds if flown too low
Acoustic monitoring is excellent for bats, cetaceans, and many bird species
Mark-recapture methods require capture and handling with welfare costs that must be minimized

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife monitoring is essential for conservation decision-making but must be designed to minimize welfare costs. The growth of non-invasive monitoring technology including camera traps, acoustic sensors, eDNA, and satellite imagery is creating alternatives to capture-based methods for many research questions. Welfare assessment in research planning ensures the welfare cost of knowledge generation is minimized and proportionate to conservation benefit.

What You Can Do

Support development and deployment of non-invasive wildlife monitoring technologies
Advocate for welfare assessment to be a required element of wildlife research ethics review
Donate to organizations developing welfare-positive wildlife monitoring methods
Engage with wildlife research institutions about their monitoring welfare standards