Indigenous and traditional communities have managed relationships with animals for millennia. Their knowledge systems often encode sophisticated welfare considerations that Western science is beginning to recognise.
Traditional ecological knowledge systems frequently encode welfare considerations that Western regulatory frameworks have only recently begun to formalise. Indigenous hunting protocols that specify approach distances, killing methods, and limits on offtake reflect generations of accumulated observation about animal behaviour and welfare. The respectful killing practices in many indigenous traditions — directed at minimising suffering and acknowledging the moral status of the killed animal — represent sophisticated welfare thinking that predates modern welfare science by thousands of years. Engaging with TEK as a source of welfare insight, rather than treating it as backward or incompatible with science, opens valuable perspectives on human-animal relationships.