Climate-driven drought is increasingly stressing both wild and farmed animal populations. Understanding and mitigating these impacts is an emerging welfare priority.
Drought is the climate change impact most immediately devastating for animal welfare. Dehydration is acutely painful — animals require water multiple times daily for survival, and a shortage within hours causes physiological crisis. For farmed animals, drought typically means inadequate water provision, reduced feed quality, and emergency culling. For wild animals, it means habitat contraction, starvation, and forced movement into human-dominated landscapes. The welfare response requires both immediate crisis management (emergency water provision, early destocking decisions) and long-term resilience building (drought-resistant breeds, water storage, reduced stocking in vulnerable regions).