Rewilding initiatives that reintroduce apex predators and ecosystem engineers raise welfare questions about prey species, introduced animals, and human-wildlife conflict.
Rewilding projects involve genuine welfare trade-offs that require honest analysis. Individual prey animals killed by reintroduced predators experience suffering — predation is not a painless death for prey species. However, predator presence also shapes prey behaviour in ways that reduce overgrazing, improve habitat quality for multiple species, and may reduce the prevalence of disease. Reintroduced animals themselves face welfare risks during translocation and establishment in new territories. The welfare implications of rewilding projects are complex and species-specific, requiring genuine welfare assessment rather than the assumption that natural equals welfare-positive.