Wildlife rehabilitation aims to return injured wild animals to healthy free-living populations, but welfare outcomes vary significantly and the ethics of rehabilitation require careful consideration.
Wildlife rehabilitation represents an important welfare service but involves difficult ethical judgements about which animals to treat, the welfare costs of treatment itself, and the prospects for meaningful recovery. The goal is not merely to keep animals alive but to return them to lives of adequate welfare quality in natural environments. Animals that cannot be released and require long-term captivity may experience significant welfare compromise if their housing cannot meet their natural behaviour needs. Triage protocols that identify realistic rehabilitation cases, minimise suffering during treatment, and ensure welfare-focused decision-making about euthanasia when appropriate are essential to maximise the welfare benefit of rehabilitation resources.