Rewilding projects bring ecological restoration benefits but raise complex welfare questions about the animals reintroduced and the dynamics that follow.
Nature contains vast amounts of suffering: predation, parasitism and disease are unavoidable features of wild ecosystems. Rewilding amplifies these processes, which raises difficult welfare questions. Prey animals killed by reintroduced predators experience acute suffering; livestock predation causes suffering both to the livestock and indirectly to predators who may be trapped or shot in retaliation. Welfare-informed rewilding teams now plan for conflict mitigation, robust livestock protection schemes, and monitoring protocols that ensure reintroduced animals do not suffer unduly from capture, transport or post-release challenges.