Water voles are one of the UK fastest declining mammals. Successful reintroduction programs offer hope and direct welfare benefit to a species facing extinction in many regions.
Water vole reintroduction creates genuine welfare benefit for individual animals — providing population viability that isolated survivors lack, and habitat quality that enables normal behavioral expression including burrow construction, territorial defense, and successful breeding. The welfare of individuals in viable reintroduced populations is significantly better than those in isolated remnant populations where reproductive failure is chronic. Mink control programs that protect reintroduced water voles prevent welfare harm from a predator that was itself a victim of fur farming.