Rewilding projects restore ecological processes but raise important animal welfare questions about predator-prey dynamics and reintroduced animal welfare.
Rewilding involves genuine tensions between individual animal welfare and broader ecological and population-level welfare. Individual prey animals killed by reintroduced predators experience acute suffering, but the restoration of predator-prey dynamics can ultimately benefit prey species welfare through reduced overpopulation and starvation. Reintroduced animals face significant welfare challenges during establishment. Monitoring of reintroduced individuals for injury, starvation, and stress is an important welfare responsibility that rewilding projects must take seriously.