Camels, goats, and sheep in arid and semi-arid rangelands face welfare challenges from seasonal water and feed scarcity that are intensifying with climate change and desertification.
Welfare in arid pastoral systems is inseparable from the ecology and economics of the communities who practice it. Pastoralists who overgraze are not indifferent to their animals -- they face impossible trade-offs between livestock welfare, family food security, and long-term habitat sustainability under conditions of poverty and climate pressure. When drought kills livestock, it is simultaneously a welfare disaster and an economic catastrophe for the families who lose their assets. Welfare interventions in these contexts must engage with this complexity: emergency feed and water provision, rangeland restoration, climate-adaptive herd management, and economic safety nets that reduce the pressure that drives overgrazing.