Climate change-driven range shifts are prompting discussions about assisted migration of species to new habitats, raising welfare questions for translocated individuals and receiving ecosystems.
Assisted migration welfare involves both the welfare of translocated individual animals and the welfare implications for species and ecosystems in receiving areas. Translocation stress — capture, transport, release into unfamiliar habitat — imposes acute welfare costs on individual animals. Post-release survival in new habitats is often lower than in established ranges, and animals may face unfamiliar predators and food sources. However, the alternative — allowing populations to decline and disappear as climate changes beyond their tolerance — involves the suffering and death of many individuals over time. Welfare-sensitive assisted migration protocols that minimise translocation stress while maximising post-release survival outcomes represent the ethical approach.