Wildlife hospice care is an emerging field that questions the default of euthanasia for non-releasable wild animals, exploring when palliative care and dignified natural death may better serve animal welfare.
The default assumption in wildlife rehabilitation that non-releasable means non-viable reflects practical constraints and genuine welfare concerns about permanent captivity for wild animals. However, this assumption warrants scrutiny. A red-tailed hawk with one healed wing may have limited flight but full sensory, cognitive and social engagement with an enriched environment. For such individuals, euthanasia may represent an unnecessary end when genuine hospice welfare is achievable. The emerging wildlife hospice movement applies Five Domains welfare assessment to evaluate candidacy rigorously, focusing on animals with good pain control, natural behaviour expression and social engagement as criteria for palliative rather than euthanasia pathways.