Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres care for thousands of injured, orphaned, and sick wild animals each year. Good practice balances individual welfare with conservation goals.
Wildlife rehabilitation sits at the intersection of individual animal welfare and conservation. Every rehabilitation decision involves trade-offs: the welfare of the individual animal, the likelihood of successful release, and the costs in terms of human resources. High-quality rehabilitation centres maintain strict protocols for minimising human imprinting, providing species-appropriate housing, and making evidence-based decisions about euthanasia when survival prospects are poor. The welfare principle is that animals should not be kept in captivity longer than necessary, and that prolonged suffering without realistic prospects of release should not be sustained.