Rewilding projects that reintroduce native species to restored habitats produce welfare benefits for reintroduced animals and the ecosystems they rejoin, but require careful management during establishment.
Rewilding reintroductions present a welfare paradox: reintroduced animals are placed into environments where they face genuine challenges and risks that managed captivity or source populations did not present. Wild-born prey of predators, unfamiliar foraging conditions and competition from established species all represent welfare costs during the establishment period. The welfare case for reintroduction rests on the long-term benefit to animals that successfully establish: natural behaviour expression, freedom of movement, natural social structures and freedom from the chronic stressors of captivity or managed living. Successful reintroduction welfare requires appropriate source population selection, habitat readiness assessment, post-release monitoring and willingness to intervene if individuals are suffering without prospect of adaptation.