Rewilding - reintroducing predators and keystone species - improves ecosystem health but requires careful welfare management of translocated animals and prey species.
Rewilding represents a large-scale approach to ecological restoration that inevitably involves welfare considerations at multiple levels. Translocated animals experience the acute stresses of capture, transport, and release into unfamiliar territory. Predation, while ecologically valuable, involves suffering for prey animals. However, the long-term welfare landscape of a functioning ecosystem with natural predator-prey dynamics may be significantly better than the alternative of degraded habitats with uncontrolled prey overpopulation leading to starvation and disease. Welfare-sensitive rewilding includes thorough pre-release preparation, post-release monitoring, and contingency plans for animal welfare interventions.