Proposals to reintroduce wolves, lynx, and bears to Britain have welfare implications for both the reintroduced predators and prey populations. Welfare science can inform ethical reintroduction planning.
Large carnivore reintroduction has welfare implications at multiple levels. Reintroduced animals face unfamiliar environments, potential human conflict, and the mortality risks of establishment. Prey species in newly predated landscapes experience fear responses and altered behaviour even without direct predation — the landscape of fear creates chronic stress in populations now aware of predator presence. The welfare-aware approach to reintroduction acknowledges these costs, plans for human conflict management that avoids retaliatory killing, and monitors the welfare of both reintroduced predators and prey species. The ecological benefits may justify the welfare costs, but this requires explicit rather than implicit ethical reasoning.