Body condition assessment of wild deer provides individual and population-level welfare information; non-invasive monitoring through camera traps and field observation enables welfare-informed management.
Body condition monitoring of wild deer provides a welfare-relevant data stream for population management decisions. Deer in poor body condition entering winter are at higher mortality risk and experience nutritional suffering that worsens as reserves are depleted. This information can inform culling prioritisation — targeting poor-condition animals that are likely to die from starvation during winter achieves both welfare improvement and population management with aligned interests. Non-invasive monitoring through camera traps makes this data collection accessible without capture stress.