Wolf reintroduction programs have restored ecosystems in Europe and North America, but raise complex questions about individual animal welfare alongside population-level conservation.
Wolf reintroduction raises welfare questions both for reintroduced wolves and for livestock they encounter. Wolves experience stress during capture, transport, and release. Territorial conflicts with resident wolves can be fatal. Livestock depredation events typically end with wolves being lethally removed, which reduces the conservation benefit of reintroduction and represents a significant welfare cost. Where coexistence measures including livestock guardian dogs, electric fencing, and night penning are deployed, both livestock and wolf welfare outcomes improve substantially. The individual wolves that are killed in reintroduction conflicts represent a welfare cost that conservation programs must account for.