Wolf reintroduction programs demonstrate how apex predator restoration can improve the welfare of prey animals and the health of entire ecosystems through trophic cascade effects.
The trophic cascade effects of wolf reintroduction demonstrate that ecosystem health and animal welfare are linked. Prey populations with active predators show different behavioral patterns — more alert, more dispersed — but may suffer less from chronic disease and population overshoot starvation events than ungrazed populations. The welfare case for intact predator-prey dynamics is increasingly supported by ecology.