Rewilding is an increasingly prominent conservation approach with significant implications for animal welfare that deserve careful consideration alongside ecological goals.
Rewilding offers the prospect of improved welfare conditions for many species by restoring natural habitat complexity and ecological relationships. However, individual animals reintroduced to unfamiliar environments or facing newly established predators face welfare challenges during the transition period. Rewilding projects should incorporate animal welfare monitoring and targeted intervention where individual suffering can be reduced without undermining ecological goals.